Environmental Studies

The Environmental Studies Program at WashU empowers students who want to make a real impact on the world. Designed for socially conscious, civically engaged emerging leaders, the program blends science, policy, ethics, and the humanities to help students understand and address today’s most urgent environmental challenges. Through interdisciplinary coursework in areas like climate science, environmental justice, conservation, urban sustainability, and environmental health, students build a strong foundation in systems thinking, scientific literacy, ethical reasoning, and analytical and communication skills. Classes are immersive and hands-on, inviting students to explore ecosystems, analyze data, practice negotiation, and design solutions that span disciplines and communities.

Learning extends far beyond the classroom. Students participate in fieldwork locally and abroad, work directly with community partners, collaborate in project-based courses like the Sustainability Exchange and RESET, conduct research with faculty in labs and in the field, and even attend international climate negotiations. Opportunities for paid internships, study abroad, and independent research—supported by close partnerships with campus organizations such as the Office of Sustainability, Tyson Research Center, Center for Environment, and the Living Earth Collaborative—allow students to shape a pathway that aligns with their interests in sustainability, science, public health, business, law, engineering, or environmental humanities. By graduation, students are prepared not only to understand complex environmental problems at local and global scales but to lead creatively and confidently in solving them.