Environment Major

The Environment major allows students the flexibility to explore and choose a path that interests them, while providing a strong foundation in the natural and social sciences as well as humanities. Please see the current requirements for the Environment major below. Check out our advising hours learn more about the major or to declare the major.

Review the prerequisites and core major requirements on the LSA website.

Specialization

What is a Specialization?

A specialization is a collection of three courses, 300 level or above, that majors choose based on their particular interests. These courses, chosen in consultation with a PitE advisor, allow students to go from an interdisciplinary perspective to a more focused examination of a topic with an environmental focus. Our most popular specializations are Conservation of Biological Diversity, Urban Planning, Environmental Politics and Policy, Natural Resource Management, Public Health, and Environmental Education

Here are several examples of approved specializations. These are merely illustrations and are not a comprehensive of possibilities. The range of Specialization options is as diverse as our students' interests.

Specialization courses are in addition to the core, they can not overlap.

Practical Experience

What is a Practical Experience?

The practical experience requirement is, at minimum, a three credit engaged learning opportunity that students complete outside of the traditional classroom setting. Students participate in skills development and learning experiences which are facilitated through interactions with a range of individuals and groups. Every practical experience opportunity includes a research component that pushes students to engage with the larger arena of environmental issues through question formulation, data collection, analysis, and discussion.

Students can fulfill this requirement one of three ways:

Taking a class at a residential field station,
Participating in the internship program, or
Completing a study abroad course or program

Practical experience requirements must be approved by an advisor BEFORE before starting.

While practical experience is a requirement of the Environment major, the five minors in PitE have the option of completing this opportunity as well. Both PitE majors and minors may be eligible for limited funding to help defray the costs of the practical experience.