Westminster offers a modern program of study on the environment that will help you to understand Nature and its relationship with humans. The two majors dealing with the environment (Environmental Science and Environmental Studies) are designed to give you different skills needed to work in environmentally related fields. While both majors have the same core classes dealing with soils, water, geology, environmental science, earth systems, and environmental policy, they diverge into different concentrations at the upper level.
The faculty in the Environmental Science Program will help you to learn how to understand the relationships within the natural world and between that world and the “constructed reality” of humankind. We also wish to give you the ability to analyze and integrate knowledge from a wide range of disciplines and the ability to communicate across disciplines and to collaborate with colleagues to solve problems and address real-world issues.
Westminster is an excellent place to study the environment. While we are not in what anyone could call pristine nature, neither are we located within a large city. This allows us easy access to areas of nature that we can study. In addition, Westminster houses the Environmentally Concerned Students (ECoS), which is a group of highly involved students who strive to understand and improve the relationship between the environment and the humans who live in it.
ECoS sponsors another group called Stream Team. This group studies Stinson Creek which runs through Westminster’s campus, not only to better understand the stream’s health, but also to discover ways in which Westminster can better coexist with its ecosystem. Both ECoS and Steam Team sponsor events and activities to better inform the student body of environmental issues. They especially get involved during Earth Day, tour the local schools, and even speak with Westminster freshmen classes to inform them about how to recycle, and the little ways we can all help the environment.
The Environmental Science Program encourages its students to engage in research through semester-long or summer programs and field trips. The Program offers opportunities for off-campus study of the national parks of the United States including Hawaii. The Biology Department has offered trips to Belize, Kenya, Ecuador (including the Galapagos Islands) and Peru.
An internship experience is required to ensure that you will have first-hand experience with issues of the day while developing professional contacts. |
