Campus, Faculty

University of Puget Sound Announces New Department of Environmental Studies & Sciences

The interdisciplinary undergraduate program launches Fall 2024

University of Puget Sound announced today that it is creating a new academic department to house its environmental programs starting in Fall 2024. The Department of Environmental Studies & Sciences will allow students to explore the evolving issues of environmental studies through an interdisciplinary approach combining natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.

Environmental Studies & Sciences will offer four academic options:

Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Policy & Decision Making,
Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Arts & Humanities,
Bachelor of Science in Earth & Environmental Science, and
Minor in Environmental Policy & Decision Making.

“Human action has disrupted Earth’s climate and ecosystems. We have become a planetary force. Responsible action at that scale requires not just new scientific knowledge, but a transformation in how we live with one another and how we think about our place on Earth,” said Provost Drew Kerkhoff. “By providing environmental coursework that spans a wide range of human perspectives, Puget Sound’s new ESS program will prepare our students to meet these profound challenges and help build a more equitable and sustainable world.”

Environmental Studies & Sciences students will benefit from Puget Sound’s unique location in the Pacific Northwest, with close proximity to natural laboratories like Mount Rainier, Olympic National Park, and the Puget Sound. Students will also form connections with community partners to apply their education through immersive experiential learning opportunities, ranging from collecting samples from nearby watersheds to hands-on exploration of geological features across the American West.

The new undergraduate degrees offered by Environmental Studies & Sciences will allow students to engage with issues surrounding climate change, conservation, and environmental justice within the context of their disciplines.

The existing Environmental Policy & Decision Making major is a unique offering among four-year institutions, challenging students to explore how policy intersects with environmental issues and emphasizing building relationships in the community to better understand local issues.
The new Earth & Environmental Sciences major offers an interdisciplinary, science-based curriculum, training students as scientists with the skills to connect human impacts to policy and management.
The Environmental Arts & Humanities major goes beyond data collection and analysis to address the impact of climate change on human populations, using storytelling, the arts, cultural perspectives, and creativity to imagine alternative futures and promote ethical engagement with environmental issues.

Paige Shinall ’24 stands in waders in a stream with a water flow meter. She signals to someone on the shore. — In addition to innovative courses in the natural sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities, students in Environmental Studies & Sciences will benefit from internship, volunteer, and research opportunities.

The Environmental Studies & Sciences department will draw on faculty expertise from across campus, including the fields of African American studies, art and art history, biology, chemistry, economics, English, foreign languages, geology, history, international political economy, philosophy, politics and government, religion, sociology and anthropology, and others. It will combine elements of existing programs with curricula designed to encompass the complexity of environmental issues facing the world today and how humans respond to those challenges. Professor of Biology and Environmental Policy and Decision Making Peter Hodum will serve as the department’s first chair.

The new department aims to prepare its graduates to succeed after college, whether by continuing their education or embarking on a career in the burgeoning fields of conservation, environmental research, environmental policy and law, outdoor education, among others. Puget Sound students interested in pursuing an education in environmental sciences and studies will be able to start taking courses in Fall 2023 and can declare a major or minor in Fall 2024.

About University of Puget Sound

A nationally ranked residential liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, University of Puget Sound enrolls 1,800 undergraduate students from across the country and around the world, as well as 300 graduate students in education, counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and public health. A low student-faculty ratio provides Puget Sound students with personal attention from faculty members who have a strong commitment to teaching and offer 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 areas of study. Puget Sound graduates include Rhodes and Luce scholars, notables in the arts and culture, scholars and scientists, entrepreneurs and elected officials, and leaders in business and finance locally and throughout the world. A top producer of Fulbright scholars, Puget Sound is the only nationally ranked independent liberal arts college in Western Washington, and one of just five independent colleges in the Northwest granted a charter by Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society.

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