Environmental & Sustainability Studies at University of Utah

Program Description

Environmental and Sustainability Studies (ENVST) is a STEM interdisciplinary program that offers a major with several emphases to focus your study, as well as a minor. The curriculum explores ecological systems and the impact of human-environment interactions from the perspectives of the natural sciences, the social and health sciences, and the humanities. The U’s program strives to foster an understanding the multi-faceted issues of the environment and sustainability and finding solutions through systemic analysis, peer learning, and community engagement, social responsibility, leadership, and having a science-based focus on solutions and integrated problem solving. Students can also complete one of the following emphases:

• Air, Water, and Health
• Conservation and Land Management
• Ecojustice Education
• Food Systems and Community
• Sustainability Initiatives (UOnline)

The Student Experience

A student internship, research or an Honors Thesis is required for ENVST majors as part of experiential learning. Several courses also include Community Engaged Learning (CEL) designations, allowing students to engage in service, connect in a hands-on way with the community, as well as propose plans for change - even getting grant funding for their ideas. With a community committed to sustainability, there are a number of student groups to engage outside of the coursework as well, ranging from the EnviroClub, the Edible Campus Gardens, and so much more.

Career Opportunities

Studying ENVST will prepare you for careers in government (such as the Bureau of Land Management or as a Watershed Scientist), business (as an environmental consultant or sustainability director), education, urban planning or farming, nonprofit (as a program manager), and activism (as a lobbyist against environmental degradation). Graduates of the program have found work as policy makers, consultants, botanists, renewability coordinators, and environmental journalists. If you want to go to graduate school, programs can include fields of environmental and other sciences, business administration, public health, urban planning and law.