Environmental Studies

Director: Rob Krueger
Associated Faculty: Constance Clark, HUA; Theodore Crusberg, BBT; David DiBiasio, CHE; Jim Doyle, SSPS; Roger Gottlieb, HUA; Scott Jiusto, IGSD; John MacDonald, CBC; Lauren Mathews, BBT; Jeanine Plummer, CEE; Kent Rissmiller, SSPS/IGSD; Tom Robertson, HUA; Khalid Saeed, SSPS; John Sanbonmatsu, HUA

Mission Statement

With a growing public demand for governments and the private sector to focus greater attention on the implications of human production and consumption for environmental sustainability, professionals educated in aspects of human-environment interactions will be in increasing demand. Through core courses, projects, and seminars focused on integrated approaches to environmental issues, the environmental studies curriculum helps students to address contemporary environmental problems in creative ways that transcend disciplinary boundaries. This interdisciplinary approach also enables students to gain breadth and depth of knowledge in core disciplines such as biology, chemistry, philosophy, history and environmental law and policy.

Graduates will have strong, marketable skills translatable into graduate school, law school, or a professional environmental position upon graduation.

Educational Outcomes

Graduating Students will:

  1. Be able to identify, analyze, and develop solutions to environmental problems creatively through sustained, multifaceted investigation.
  2. Have mastered fundamental concepts and methods of inquiry in their areas of specialization, whether environmental thought, policy, or methodology.
  3. Be able to make connections between environmental disciplines and integrate information from multiple sources.
  4. Be aware of how their decision-making processes affect and are affected by other individuals separated across time and space.
  5. Be aware of personal, societal, and professional ethical standards.
  6. Have interpersonal and communication skills and a professional attitude necessary for a successful career.
  7. Understand and employ current technological tools.
  8. Have the ability to engage in life-long learning.

Distribution Requirements

RequirementsMinimum Units

1.

Environmental Studies Core (Note 1)

1

2.

Mathematics & Basic Science (Note 2)

2 2/3

3.

Environmental Science and Engineering (Note 3)

3

4.

Basic Social Science and Humanities (Note 4)

1

5.

Environmental Social Science and Humanities (Note 5)

2

6.

MQP

1

Total

10 2/3

Notes:

  1. Only courses with the prefix ENV count toward this requirement. Must include the senior seminar in environmental studies.
  2. Must include 2/3 unit of calculus, 1/3 unit of statistics, 2/3 unit of chemistry, and 2/3 unit of biology. May include 1/3 unit of basic engineering with the permission of the Environmental Studies Program Review Committee.
  3. All courses with prefixes BB, CE, CH, CHE, ES, GE, and PH may qualify under this requirement. BB courses must be at the 2000 level or higher. Must include 1/3 unit of ecology. Must include 1/3 unit of engineering at the 2000 level or higher. The 3 units of environmental science and engineering courses must be coherently defined and approved by the Environmental Studies Program Review Committee.
  4. Must include 1/3 unit of economics, 1/3 unit of public policy or political science, and 1/3 unit of either history or philosophy.
  5. Must include 1/3 unit environmental economics, 1/3 unit environmental policy, 1/3 unit environmental philosophy, and 1/3 unit environmental history.

Major Qualifying Project (1 unit)

The MQP is expected to provide an integrative capstone research experience in Environmental Studies. Several types of MQPs are possible: a research study in a particular science or social science discipline, a holistic examination of an environmental problem from an interdisciplinary perspective, or a philosophical or historical analysis of an environmental issue. WPI faculty from academic disciplines including biology, chemistry, economics, geography, history, philosophy, psychology and public policy are associated with the Environmental Studies program and can advise Environmental Studies MQPs related to their area of expertise.

Environmental IQP Opportunities

WPI students can complete an IQP in a wide variety of areas at the intersection of society and technology, and there is no requirement that Environmental Studies students do an environmentally-related IQP. However, for interested students, numerous opportunities exist for environmental IQPs on campus and at off-campus centers. In a typical academic year, approximately 30 of the 80 IQPs completed at off-campus project centers are environmental in nature. Many other environmentally themed projects are offered on campus as well. Typical project topics include issues of public health, renewable energy, land conservation, air quality and water quality, urban environments, and environmental justice. In some circumstances students may, with the approval of their IQP advisor, their academic advisor, and the Environmental Studies Program Review Committee, complete additional work on an environmental IQP that qualifies the project to count as an Environmental Studies MQP. However, students must still complete two separate, distinct projects, one IQP and one MQP, to meet the requirements for graduation.

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Last modified: January 26, 2009 13:53:21