The University of Colorado at Boulder聮s Environmental Studies Program is on its way to becoming one of the most popular majors on campus, with enrollment doubling to 600 students in the past five years.
"The popularity of this program is a sign of the times," said Environmental Studies Program Director James White. "In the last 10 to 20 years, people have come to realize the true importance of how our environment functions and how our actions impact the world we live in. The workings of our planet are becoming more clear, and it has become a necessity to develop a field with strong leaders and problem solvers to deal with environmental issues."
The interdisciplinary emphasis of the program gives students the ability to place themselves in a number of different career opportunities, he said.
"We have former students now working in some of the biggest corporations in the country, while others are holding very influential positions in small non-profit organizations," said White. He pointed out that the environmental studies field is academically one of the most dynamic at this point in time as new issues and scientific discoveries continually dictate new career opportunities.
One unique aspect of the program has been its recent emphasis on securing participating faculty and student commitment. White feels that allowing input from every "stakeholder" provides opportunities for improvement in all levels of environmental studies. The faculty recently has been working on integrating coursework with other departments and programs on campus in order to ensure the greatest degree of interdisciplinary collaboration possible, he said.
"Rather than holding departmental status, we are able to openly work as a program with other departments and programs on campus as opposed to competing with them," said White. "We want our students to receive the most diverse educational experience possible in our program -- far more interdisciplinary than most major universities -- and our program status allows us to work toward this goal."
The Environmental Studies Program also is currently in the process of developing a graduate degree program. While many graduates from the program have moved on to the law school and other graduate programs, White feels that it is important that the university offer students the option to continue their educations in an environmentally focused program.
"We are trying to put together the best Environmental Studies Program possible for the money," he said. "We want to produce real problem solvers for real problems."