Find A Major Or A Minor That Gives You The Skills to Heal the Planet

Environmental Science

Environmental Science BS

Are you excited by how natural systems work? Do you want to solve the problems of the natural environment caused by human activities? Do you love to work outdoors? Do you love the sciences and scientific inquiry? Then Environmental Science is for you.

Environmental Science — Marine Science Emphasis, BS

Environmental Science draws on basic knowledge of the physical, chemical, biological, and quantitative aspects of natural systems. Students wishing to complete Environmental Science Marine Science emphasis major in four years should complete the general chemistry series and the general biology series during their freshman and sophomore years.

Environmental Science — Toxicology Emphasis, BS

Students wishing to complete an Environmental Science Toxicology emphasis major in four years should complete the general chemistry series and the general biology series during their freshman and sophomore years. Environmental toxicology problems include chemical releases into the air, water, and soil, and the result in effects to the organisms living in those systems.

Environmental Studies

Economics / Environmental Studies, BA

Students who choose this degree will learn how to use economic principles to help understand the economic causes of environmental problems and how to identify potential remedies through law and policy. The degree awarded is a B.A. in Economics.

Environmental Studies — Elementary, BAE

Are you excited about teaching children about the environment? Do you want to teach people to make environmental choices in their lives? Perhaps an Environmental Studies-Elementary major is for you!

Environmental Studies (Extension) — Environmental Policy Emphasis, BA

College of the Environment - Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo is distance-based education for students located in these regions. Do you want to use your knowledge and skills to promote positive change in the environment? Then the Environmental Studies – Environmental Policy emphasis is for you.

Environmental Studies (Extension), BA

College of the Environment - Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo is distance-based education for students located in these regions. The Environmental Studies major includes core classes in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to prepare our students to integrate knowledge from multiple fields of study.

Environmental Studies — Geographic Information Science Emphasis, BA

Do you love maps? Are you comfortable with spatial problem solving? Do you enjoy the combination of art and science that goes into cartography? Are you curious about how spatial data can be used to explain the patterns and processes behind environmental issues? Come join us as we work together to map our world!

Environmental Studies — Policy, Politics, and Governance Emphasis, BA

Learn how science and policy interact as stakeholders attempt to regulate pollution, manage natural resources, protect natural spaces, and live with environmental disturbances. Make a difference working at non-profits, as a consultant, or in the government.

Environmental Studies, BA

Do you want to use your knowledge and skills to promote positive change in the environment? Do you want to understand the interactions and interdependencies between human and natural systems? Environmental Studies takes an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to understanding human-environment systems and environmental challenges.

Environmental Studies — Geography Emphasis, BA

Environmental Geography links together the social sciences and natural sciences, studying the relationships between human activity and natural systems. We draw on knowledge from many different fields of study to give us the big picture view of how and why cultural and natural landscapes vary over space.

Environmental Studies (Extension) — Geographic Information Science Emphasis, BA

College of the Environment - Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo is distance-based education for students located in these regions. Geographic Information Science Emphasis students gain advanced skills in the creation, development, management, analysis, and visualization of spatial data.

Environmental Studies — Education & Eco-Social Justice Emphasis, BA

Students explore themes of environmental hope, eco- and social-justice, Indigenous and Land/Sea methods and practice of teaching, and Urban/City settings. With partnerships around the Salish Sea, students work on local projects that focus on public health, socio-environmental literacy, and climate justice.

Environmental Studies — Justice & Community Resilience Emphasis, BA

Gain the interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to promote a more just and resilient society. Become an effective advocate for environmental justice and support frontline communities facing climate change, environmental pollution, sea-level rise, and oppression. Learn how to use policy, planning, advocacy, and engagement strategies to address environmental injustice and increase community resilience.

Environmental Studies/Journalism, BA

Environmental Journalism offers the opportunity to explore the intersection between the natural world and politics, science, economics and culture. It combines rigorous research with creative storytelling.

Environmental Science — Freshwater & Terrestrial Ecology Emphasis, BS

Students admitted to the Environmental Science program can elect to focus their studies on an ecological area of the discipline through the Freshwater & Terrestrial Ecology major.

Environmental Minors

Climate Change Minor

The Climate Change Minor provides an interdisciplinary, holistic survey of the biophysical and societal causes and effects of climate change and the pathways we can take to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This degree draws on coursework from the social sciences, humanities, and physical and life sciences to help students understand climate change through multiple disciplinary perspectives.

Disaster Risk Reduction Minor

The College of the Environment’s Disaster Risk Reduction Minor is designed to introduce the student to natural hazards and their impacts on society. It explores the social causes of disasters using an environmental justice lens. Students learn strategies for mitigating impact, reducing causes of risk, and developing just and resilience communities. All students at Western may apply for admittance through the Department of Environmental Studies office at any time..

Energy Policy Minor

The minor in Energy Policy is an interdisciplinary program designed to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding green-energy economy. Graduates will be well prepared to enter the workforce as leaders, equipped with the knowledge, skills and applied expertise demanded by this dynamic and evolving sector of the global economy. The participating departments are recognized for their outstanding educational programs and demonstrated excellence. This program will support interdisciplinary learning while fostering an approach to problem solving that encourages cross-discipline thinking..

Environmental Science Minor

Sustainability Studies Minor

Created by the Sustainability Academy and approved by the Sustainability Curriculum Committee, this Sustainability Studies Minor draws across all the colleges at WWU, and is administered by an academic program director and advisers within the student’s major. The Minor is appropriate for students who wish to complement their undergraduate curricula and to further gain knowledge about the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability in both their academic and professional growth. The minor is highly cross-disciplinary in an effort to provide a diverse foundation for becoming engaged citizens.

Environmental Justice Minor

This minor provides space for students who wish to bridge interests in the environment and social justice. It allows students to connect the theoretical insights they are learning in class to practical applications. This minor is appropriate for students with a background in the environment who wish to deepen their understanding of connections to social justice, for students with a background in social justice who wish to deepen their understanding of connections to the environment, and for students with little background in either the environment or social justice.

Geography Minor

Do you wonder about how human and natural environments vary across the world? Are you curious about how the interactions and interdependencies between human and natural systems? Do you love maps? Are you comfortable with spatial problem solving? If so, then Geography will be a great minor for you! Come join us as we work together to understand our world!.

Environmental Education Minor

The goal of the environmental education minor is that the student understands and be able to use basic environmental education approaches within the context of such careers as environmental science, environmental policy, sustainability, and so on. The minor equips the student with conceptual foundations and beginning methods in environmental education together with natural history and humanistic background for understanding human relations with the environment.

Energy Science Minor

The Energy Science minor is an interdisciplinary program providing broad exposure to the science, business and policy of energy while ensuring core competency in energy science. The extensive scientific prerequisites for the minor make this program a good fit for science and engineering majors who wish to complement a deeper understanding of energy science with a working knowledge of energy policy and business. Graduates will be well prepared to enter the workforce as leaders, equipped with the knowledge, skills and applied expertise demanded by the rapidly-expanding clean energy economy. The participating departments are recognized for their outstanding educational programs and demonstrated excellence. This program will foster interdisciplinary thinking, learning and problem solving..

Salish Sea Studies Minor

Salish Sea Studies offers a multidisciplinary, experiential, and place-based complement to other majors and minors, including environmental science and policy; marine sciences; international business; anthropology; history; political science; communications; and education. The program is designed to draw on the breadth and depth of expertise across Western, with electives from all colleges on campus. Our curriculum emphasizes appreciation of the contributions of many ways of knowing across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students are given opportunities for field-based experiential learning and personal reflection as they develop a critical sense of place in the Salish Sea.

Sustainable Design Minor

The goal of the program is to enable students to gain skills in pursuit of sustainable design careers. The program is open to students from any major at Western who would benefit by the set of concepts and skills offered. Students in the program will obtain an understanding about the natural systems within which human institutions and technologies function. This background allows students to make informed decisions about how ecological constraints define sustainability, and how human choices shape the context in which sustainable projects may be implemented. The coursework introduces the design process and the field of sustainable design.

Law, Diversity, and Justice Minor

For students who want to understand how legal systems work for and against justice in our society.This minor, open to all Western students, is taught by a faculty that includes attorneys using law school texts. The minor builds the skills necessary for success after college: critical reading, writing, research, oral communication, and analytical ability. The curriculum also emphasizes a critical examination of how issues such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation and disability intersect with the legal system. The minor welcomes students who desire to effect change and who have the potential to act as leaders and role models in their communities using legal knowledge and processes.

Geographic Information Science Minor

Geographic Information Science combines GIS software, statistical analysis, and cartographic techniques to develop, manage, analyze, and visualize spatial data. This is a rapidly growing field of inquiry that is widely used to solve complex problems in many fields of research, industry, and public policy. Do you love maps? Are you comfortable with spatial problem solving? Do you enjoy the combination of art and science that goes into cartography? Are you curious about how spatial data can be used to explain the patterns and processes behind environmental issues? If so, then a Geographic Information Science minor will be a good choice for you! Come join us as we work together to map our world!

Food Security and Policy Minor

There are many opporunities to connect to work around food and farm policy on a number of scales. In addition, there is a need for holistic nutrition and food planning. Specialists are needed to work in government and nonprofit organizations to help in outreach around food programs and connect families to food. This includes writing curricula, and/or participating in garden-to-table programs. Growing food, and participating in permaculture as primary producers, is essential for understanding complexities and challenges of our food system.

Discover a Career that Fights for the Planet

What careers are possible?

Scientists, data analysts, urban planners, emergency planners… there is a vast range of positions that focus on stopping climate change and healing the planet. Find lists of careers below: