University of Washington, Seattle
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

The Environmental Studies program has been at the leading edge of interdisciplinary learning at the UW since PoE first offered the major in 1998. The Environmental Studies curriculum integrates the broad range of social and natural science disciplines which influence the field of environmental studies. Students take an active role in their academic planning by selecting environmentally-related courses from over 20 departments across the University. With an emphasis on bio-regional, global, and field-based content, students learn in the field, lab, classroom, community and around the world. The program provides a broad-based environmental education that offers excellent training and preparation for a wide variety of careers or postgraduate studies.

Students in Environmental Science and Resource Management (ESRM) learn about natural and human dominated landscapes and how to apply this knowledge to real-world problems. With a focus on sustainability, students work with professors and regional experts on environmental issues. Fieldwork gives students enhanced opportunities for experiential learning and service in a rich contextual landscape.

Community, Environment, and Planning (CEP) is an award-winning, interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree program offered through the College of Built Environments as one of the University's interdisciplinary undergraduate programs. CEP has gained distinction as a model for a highly personalized, active and relevant educational experience within a large research institution. Housed in the Department of Urban Design and Planning, CEP students liberally draw upon the entire range of courses, faculty, and programs at the UW. The problems we face in this world are simply too great to be met without active engagement from all perspectives and knowledge. To this end, a CEP education is founded on the following: Start where you are; articulate and embrace a vision of how you intend to make a difference in the world. With guidance from faculty, staff and peers, construct a learning plan using CEP seminars, cross-disciplinary courses, and field experiences that will help you reach your goals. Deliberately implement your learning plan in the final two years of your undergraduate education. Through first-hand experience and in the context of the CEP community of learners, become acquainted with effective ways for working constructively together to anticipate and address critical issues facing the complex communities and world we inhabit. A CEP education is fully lived, not passively taken. CEP students actively make their education in community with others. Students learn from learning groups. Each group comprises a community of mutual learning that requires commitment, personal investment, and strong teamwork strategies for two years. Through six interconnected, quarterly seminars students engage the core content of the major: community, environment, and planning. These contemporary academic fields and areas of research include the study of community as subject and practice, exploration of the ecological context of all societal life, and an investigation of the potentials of planning for developing strategies for positive change.

Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering http://www.ce.washington.edu/ Bachelor of Arts in Geography http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/geog.html A list of sustainability-focused and sustainability-related undergraduate degree programs is maintained here: https://green.uw.edu/exploring-degrees-programs

The Arctic is one of the most critical emerging regions of the world. The environmental, social, economic, and political changes occurring in the Arctic present challenges in both the natural and social sciences. These challenges require students to have an interdisciplinary understanding of the complex interface between human societies and the environment. Future leaders in the region will be those who can combine interdisciplinary knowledge covering policy, culture, and science to address the unique and urgent challenges to the region. At the UW, there is growing undergraduate interest in Arctic studies. This undergraduate minor responds to student interest and to the opportunity for the UW to combine its strengths in polar science with growing expertise in the social sciences to become an international leader in Arctic Studies. The purpose of this minor is for undergraduates to have an opportunity to gain skills relevant to addressing major science and policy issues in the Arctic. Students may pursue research topics such as indigenous governance; adaptation of northern communities to environmental and social change; security issues (e.g., health issues, food sovereignty, education, culture, and language); northern economies; processes that are controlling the physical and biogeochemical changes in the Arctic, such as the impact of the state of the atmosphere and the ocean on sea-ice distributions and land ice melt; impact of physical changes on marine ecosystems and biodiversity; and the changing transportation pathways in the Arctic Ocean.

The purpose of the Environmental Studies minor is to broaden students' understanding of the scientific, technological, management, policy, legal, cultural, and ethical dimensions of environmental issues in areas beyond their chosen disciplines. Additionally, the Environmental Studies minor seeks to enhance student skills in communication, group work, decision-making, and conflict resolution.

The Climate Minor, offered through the College of the Environment, provides undergraduates with a unique opportunity to explore the science of climate in a multi-disciplinary context. The minor brings together coursework in climate chemistry and biology, physical and past climate through courses in Atmospheric Sciences, Oceanography, Earth and Space Sciences and other science departments, with additional opportunities to explore policy, energy and human dimensions of climate change. Successful completion of the climate minor provides students with a strong interdisciplinary foundation in climate science and will help to prepare students for graduate study in climate related fields.

Aquatic and Fishery Sciences - The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS) encompasses multi-disciplinary programs at the interface between the traditional fields of natural history, environmental biology, and natural resource management. Primary foci are the management of sustainable fisheries of commercially important species; biocomplexity and ecosystem-based management; and sustainable aquaculture. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/fish.html#MINOR Marine Biology – The minor in marine biology is sponsored jointly by the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, the School of Oceanography, and the College of Arts and Sciences, and is designed to immerse students in the study of marine organisms and ecosystems, starting in the freshman year. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/fish.html#MINOR Quantitative Science - an interdisciplinary minor supported by the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences focusing on quantitative skills applied to biological and ecological fields. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/fish.html#MINOR Climate Science – An interdisciplinary course of study that features courses examining the science, policy, and ecological effects of climate. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/ocean.html#MINOR Ecological Restoration – The modern field of ecological restoration (ER) showcases the necessity and merits of interdisciplinary approaches to real-world problems. Effective restoration of complex ecosystems and their human interplay requires a fusion of expertise from ecology, other life sciences, physical and social sciences and the humanities. The minor in ecological restoration seeks to prepare students to address the complex relationships of human communities and ecological sustainability. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/sefs.html#MINOR Environmental Science and Terrestrial Resource Management – Offers students majoring in a wide range of subjects exposure to the challenges facing terrestrial ecosystems, including their conservation and restoration. Course work provides a solid foundation for links to other fields of biology, environmental education, journalism and public policy. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/sefs.html#MINOR Environmental Health – The minor is designed to help students understand the influences and impact of environmental factors on human health, and it is especially appropriate for those majoring in the sciences. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/envh.html#MINOR Program on the Environment – The purpose of the Environmental Studies minor is to broaden students' understanding of the scientific, technological, management, policy, legal, cultural, and ethical dimensions of environmental issues in areas beyond their chosen disciplines http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/envir.html#MINOR Urban Ecological Design – Urban Ecological Design instructs students in designing ecological systems within our cities, designing with people to express their cultures in the urban landscape, creating ecological and cultural places people can care about and take care of, and making healthy places. http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/academic/larch.html#MINOR A list of sustainability-focused and sustainability-related undergraduate degree programs is maintained here: https://green.uw.edu/exploring-degrees-programs