Welcome to the Environmental Studies Program - where environmental awareness, research, community service and stewardship unite our scholarship.
We offer a broad range of courses, internships and research opportunities for all undergraduates who are compelled by the challenges of environmental degradation and wish to work for the earth's transformation towards sustainability. The Environmental Studies Minor is a potent complement to any Major and our students are recruited from the Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts.
Although I serve as the Program Director, and work hard to be its enthusiastic ambassador, our program is actually made possible by the dedicated faculty from a dozen departments who are willing to offer courses that address the content and challenge of environmental education. We are especially indebted to the Departments of Biology, Geology and Geophysics, Political Science and History as well as the BC Law School for their unflagging support of our curriculum and to Ms. Maria Aucoin who so ably provides our program coordination.
Our collaboration with the Urban Ecology Institute, one of BC's family of Centers and Institutes, provides cutting-edge curricula and incredible opportunities for research and internship in the challenging field of urban ecology and transformation. The Institute's Executive Director, Charlie Lord, also serves to coordinate the environmental policy program within the Minor.
The Urban Ecology Institute has unique opportunities for research and education internships in the Boston metropolitan area as well as in other partner cities such as New Haven, Baltimore and New York. I serve as the Institute's Science Director and have worked hard with Professor Lord to make the Urban Ecology Institute research and advocacy activities accessible to undergraduates in the Minor. The collaboration has been particularly fruitful in providing support for undergraduate research from diverse sources such as the National Science Foundation and the Northeast Education Services Foundation.
The Sandy Neck Field Station on Cape Cod supports a variety of curriculum and research opportunities for Environmental Studies Minors. Co-Directed by Dr. Peter Auger from the Biology Department and myself, this site supports long term ecological research of White-Tailed Deer, Eastern Coyotes, Diamondback Terrapins, American Crows and bats. Students participate in the work of this program in selected courses and in independent research.
I hope that you will decide to discover more about the Environmental Studies Program - either as a student interested in the Minor or as a faculty member with an interest in environmental teaching or research.
Best wishes for sustainability of the earth!