Undergraduate Programs

Knowledge from the Best of All Worlds

The Environmental & Sustainability Studies (ESS) program at WPI is designed to focus on diverse aspects of environmental issues and provide hands-on education in the methods of scientific, social science, and humanistic analysis. With growing public demand for greater attention on human consumption and production, and their implications on environmental sustainability, there is an increased need for professionals educated across all aspects of human-environment interactions, from the sciences to sociology to humanities.

Through core courses, seminars, and projects, including the IQP, focused on integrated approaches to environmental issues, the ESS curriculum helps students 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.

With an ESS degree, graduates will have strong, marketable skills that can translate into graduate school, law school, or a professional environmental position upon graduation. Grads see a number of opportunities in areas in the private and public sectors, including waste management, environmental advocacy, management, education, or communications.

Students majoring in Environmental & Sustainability Studies earn a bachelor of arts degree.

Students majoring in another area may choose ESS as a minor.