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Environmental Studies and Sustainability
Join the global effort to protect our environment and natural resources.
We have a hive of bees at our educational garden and farm. Professors distribute honey to help students combat local allergies because eating local honey can help acclimate to the pollen around you.
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 Kendall County (Illinois) Forest Preserve District.
The Educational Garden uses sustainable gardening techniques to produce vegetables, fruits and honey. From spring through summer, the garden crew plants, tends and harvests the food. They share their bounty at local farmers markets and u-picks with faculty, staff and community members.
The seven-acre Educational Farm gives students hands-in-the-dirt experiences on crop rotation, conservation and infrastructure. U-pick events are held at the farm and the garden.
Summer Opportunities for Intellectual Activity (SOFIA)
SOFIAUNDERGRAD RESEARCH.
Summer Opportunities for Intellectual Activity (SOFIA)
Add valuable undergraduate research experience to your resume before starting your undergraduate degree.
A unique program for incoming freshmen held three weeks before the fall semester starts. Faculty-led small groups present their research on a topic to the Monmouth community. Research and creative projects span a variety of academic departments. Past projects: Chemistry of Baking (Chemistry), External Struggles & Internal Identities (Psychology) and Inside Ancient Greece Athletics (Classics).
