Environmental Studies and Sustainability

Join the global effort to protect our environment and natural resources.

Climate change. Disappearing rain forests. Polluted and toxic oceans. For lovers of the natural world, there’s never been more cause for worry. But there’s also some good news — with a degree in environmental studies and sustainability, you can join the fight to protect our planet on multiple fronts.

Outdoor adventures await you

Unlock your inner explorer through class field trips and short travel courses. Measure animal diversity during the fall snake migration in southern Illinois. Harvest native plant seeds at the Nature Conservancy’s Nachusa prairie while buffalo roam nearby. Hike the Grand Canyon or snorkel coral reefs. 

Discover your opportunities

Hone your research skills within minutes of campus and discover the links between your life and local ecosystems. Test control methods for invasive plants at LeSuer Nature Preserve. Explore the effects of pharmaceutical contaminants on behavior of fish and frogs. Measure population density of turtles at Hamilton Pond. Monitor native plant and animal populations at Spring Grove Prairie. 

Get hands-in-the-dirt experience

Get dirty with hands-on restoration efforts at LeSuer Nature Preserve. Plant trees, burn a prairie, stabilize a stream bank. Or explore agricultural ecology at the educational garden and farm while pursuing a minor in global food security. Propose solutions to climate change and implement them on campus and in the community.

Antoinette Meciej '17 works as a communication, marketing and public program specialist at Ke... Antoinette Meciej '17 works as a communication, marketing and public program specialist at Kendall County (Illinois) Forest Preserve District.

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