Become an environmental change-agent. Learn to merge the natural and social sciences to solve environmental problems. Survey giant forests of the Pacific Northwest. Collect marine life in the Puget Sound. Work as an environmental policy intern in the WA State Legislature.

Note: You can join or leave a Path of Study at any time and your credits will always count toward your Bachelor’s degree.

About Environmental Studies

Your proximity to a wide variety of ecosystems and natural reserves on campus provides a unique opportunity to study natural phenomena and human interactions with the environment. This interdisciplinary field brings together the natural and social sciences to give you skills to study the environment in all its complexities, and engage with government to develop policy to effectively solve environmental problems.

Learn more about this field.

Foundational programs

Foundational programs in the Environmental Studies Path teach general skills, such as writing, critical thinking in the sciences, quantitative skills, interdisciplinary thinking, library research, critical reading of texts, and group collaboration. They also give you specific prerequisites, including General Biology and General Chemistry, needed for upper-division programs. Foundational programs are taught every year.

Foundational Programs for 2019–20

Fall 2019	Winter 2020	Spring 2020
Integrated Natural Sciences
Botany	Snow Ecology
	General Biology	General Biology
	General Chemistry	General Chemistry

Foundational Programs for 2020–21

Fall 2020	Winter 2021	Spring 2021
Integrated Natural Sciences
Botany: Plants and People
Urban Planning		Trees
		Coastal Ecology and Geology
	General Biology	General Biology
	General Chemistry	General Chemistry

Foundational Programs for 2021–22

Fall 2021	Winter 2022	Spring 2022
Integrated Natural Sciences
Botany: Plants and People		Climate Justice
	General Biology	General Biology
	General Chemistry	General Chemistry

Foundational Programs for 2022–23

Fall 2022	Winter 2023	Spring 2023
Integrated Natural Sciences
Botany: Plants and People		Climate Justice
Urban Planning	Trees
Urban Planning		Trees
		Ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms
	General Biology	General Biology
	General Chemistry	General Chemistry

Foundational Programs for 2022–24

Fall 2023	Winter 2024	Spring 2024
Integrated Natural Sciences

Advanced programs

Advanced programs in the Environmental Studies path typically offer two or more of the following:

• Practice in planning and carrying out research, often in the field or lab
• Data analysis
• Proficiency in researching and reading scientific or technical writing
• Scientific or technical writing
• Group collaboration on a final project
• Skills in public presentation

The advanced Environmental Studies curriculum is divided into three categories.

Note: You do not have to commit to a single category. You can choose programs from any category (as long as you meet the prerequisites for the program).

Back to the Environmental Studies overview.