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New Environmental Science major expands options for working for the good of the Earth
For those aspiring to find practical ways to protect natural resources and human health, it can be hard to know how to best do that. You can work with people and how they use the land, or you can work with the land itself to explore how it functions and reacts to human interaction.
Those two paths are often described academically as "environmental studies" and "environmental science." But the distinction between the two can be confusing. Both are valid and worthwhile paths, but what's the difference? Many don't know.
"I've had students who were environmental studies majors, but thought they were environmental science majors," laughs Associate Professor and Chair of Chemistry Kenny Miller.
"Basically, if you want to go into environmental policy, work with legislators, work with governments, do environmental legislation and such, then you'd want environmental studies," Miller explains. "But if you want to understand the science of the environment, and understand how to do things like work with companies and federal, state, and local governments on collecting and analyzing data for environmental impact studies, then environmental science is for you."
Starting Fall 2018, a new degree in Environmental Science at FLC will make those two paths clear -- and available – for those who want to direct their energy toward good work to benefit both society and the ecosystems we depend upon for resources.
FLC already has an established and successful Environmental Studies program. That course of study broadens students’ understanding of the relationships between humans and the environment, while cultivating the skills necessary to search for long-term, sustainable solutions to today's biggest challenges.
The new Environmental Science major, however, makes use of FLC's range of disciplines by immersing students in interdisciplinary approaches to scientific understanding of the environment and developing ways to protect natural resources and human health.
A degree in Environmental Science provides students with the coursework and skills to launch careers associated with air and water quality analysis, environmental preservation, assessment of environmental impacts of industrial processes, environmental health, and other related areas -- skills whose demand is growing: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates jobs in environmental science will grow 12 percent in the next 10 years.
Both the Environmental Science and Environmental Studies programs make use of FLC’s central location in the American Southwest, an ideal setting to explore issues such as energy production, local foods, water conservation, land use, national parks, and Native American tribal lands.
"A unique aspect of our location is that we have ongoing environmental-science stuff happening in the community around us that students can directly see and get involved in," says Professor of Geosciences Kim Hannula. "For example, the Gold King Mine spill happened a couple of years ago, and there's still discussion about what to do with the mine waste. That's exactly the kinds of things our students will be studying. And on our campus we have people with skills from a range of sciences who can come together to work on and think about those issues."
To help students choose the environmental path that suits them best, introductory courses give insights into each: ESCI 100 is an introductory environmental science course that provides an overview of that field to first-year students. And ENVS 100, "Introduction to Environmental Studies," is also available to explore that discipline, as well.
But in true FLC style, even though the new "Introduction to Environmental Science" course is a 100-level class, students can expect to get their hands dirty. "We see undergraduates as people who can solve problems, and treat them like that from the very beginning,” says Hannula. “So the ESCI 100 class also has a lab. And in that lab, students are going to actually act like scientists and collect samples and analyze data about natural systems."
Like its unique location, FLC’s small size and emphasis on undergraduate education is also a powerful asset for students, says Hannula. "At a big university, one that focuses on faculty research and training graduate students, a class like 'Introduction to Environmental Science' would probably have 300 students in it," she says. "There might be labs, but if there were they'd be taught by graduate students and would be pretty canned, replicating something that is already proven to work."
"But in this class," she continues, "first-semester students are going to be working with an actual professor, in class, in the laboratory, and in the field, trying to figure things out for themselves."
That hands-on focus continues through the entire Environmental Science program, all the way to students’ "capstone" research project in their senior year, which ties their many courses together and brings skills to another level. Although undergraduate researchers are guided and mentored, the project also requires them to work both independently and in a team, and to communicate in both written and oral forms via reports and presentations.
"Senior research allows students to take information that they've gotten from multiple classes and combine it to study a problem that's never been studied in that way before," says Miller. "This interdisciplinary approach is a more realistic way to understand or solve environmental problems."
Learn more about both the Environmental Science and Environmental Studies programs at www.fortlewis.edu/environmental-sustainability-programs.