The Urban Environmental Studies Major
The Urban Environmental Studies major provides students with an opportunity to study the problems related to the accelerated degradation of our environment, including water and air quality decline, increasingly unhealthy urban landscapes, loss of forests and farmlands, growing numbers of imperiled species, and climate change.
Such problems pose a threat to human health, safety, prosperity, and well-being in complex and pervasive ways. Students in this major will develop the skills necessary to understand the complex interrelationships between human welfare and environmental sustainability.
The major requires a core set of courses in a range of disciplines and a concentration in a particular area of study. UES students will be prepared for careers in the public and private sectors or graduate studies.Three concentrations are offered: a natural science concentration, a society and policy concentration, and an environmental education concentration.
The natural science concentration prepares students for careers in which an understanding of science is critical, including careers in environmental management, conservation science and policy, environmental health and security, and natural resource management.
The society and policy concentration prepares students for careers in which an understanding of the social sciences and economics is critical, including careers in environmental economics, public administration and environmental policy, environmental law, and environmental politics.
The environmental education concentration prepares students for entry-level positions in agencies, organizations, or institutions with environmental education programs, or graduate programs with an emphasis on education.
Core Curriculum
- The following core courses are required (10-11 units):
- ES 150 Environmental Studies
- ES 160 Environmental Earth Sciences
- EC 202 Principles of Economics II
- PY 220 Environment and Behavior or SO 376 Environmental Sociology
- BI 225 Evolutionary Ecology
- PS 250 Public Policy Process
- EC 340 Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment
- PL 307 Environmental Ethics or RE 320 Religion and the Natural World
- ES 470 Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies
- ES 472 Senior Research in Environmental Studies
Note: PL 307 has a prerequisite of one course in PL (except PL 241)
Students are encouraged to participate in an internship related to their concentration and career interests. Such experiences provide hands-on experience, illustrating how real world problems can inform and challenge classroom experiences. Internships may be taken as part of interim or during a regular term through GEN or ES 397.
- In addition to the core requirements, students must also complete a concentration. Each concentration provides students with training in a set of related environmental fields. Individual students should work with their advisors to select a course of study best suited to their professional goals.
Click here for a detailed description of the UES concentrations (PDF).