Environmental Studies

Introduction

Students, faculty, and staff in the Department of Environmental Studies approach environmental understanding and problem solving through by examining how social and natural systems interact. Our curriculum puts the social sciences, natural sciences, humanities, and environmental professions into direct dialogue, so that students can make intellectual connections and gain the practical skills necessary for building socially just and environmentally sustainable futures.

The department’s main interdisciplinary undergraduate degree is in Environmental Studies. In this degree students take foundational courses in geography and ecology, followed by upper division courses in five core knowledge areas spanning from data analysis to environmental governance. Students in the degree select one of several concentration options:

Education and Eco-Social Justice,
General Environmental Studies,
Geographic Information Science,
Geography, or
Policy, Politics, and Governance.

The department also offers several joint degrees with the College of Business and Economics, Woodring College of Education, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

By integrating the natural sciences, social sciences, and allied professions, the Department of Environmental educates problem solvers who are able to meet the social and environmental challenges of our times. All of our programs direct students to specific environmental career paths or provide an excellent background for advanced study in education, law, natural resource management, public administration, and other fields.

The department also offers eight minors for students in the department and across the university. These minors include Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Environmental Education, Environmental Justice, Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Science (GIS), and Geography. A certificate in Geographic Information Certificate is also available.

The department also advanced study through a graduate degree in Environmental Studies.

Faculty

The faculty’s work in this department is tied together by a shared commitment to ongoing interdisciplinary exchange. Faculty are trained in anthropology, education, engineering, geography, history, natural resources management, political science, psychology, and related fields. Active research programs keep faculty at the forefront of these fields as they intersect with environmental studies. Department academic programs also draw upon the expertise of colleagues in other units of the University, such as the departments of economics, journalism, environmental science, urban and environmental planning and policy, and political science.

The Department of Environmental Studies acknowledges with respect …

We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish territory, including Lummi Nation and Nooksack peoples on whose traditional territory the Environmental Studies department stands.

Department Resources

Department facilities support applied student learning in the 33-computer spatial analysis lab with a complete suite of state-of-the-art GIS, cartography, and remote sensing software, GPS receivers, and extensive local data sets. Facilities also include the environmental education lab. Experiential learning is emphasized in many of our programs, taking students into the field, from the local to the international, where they apply their skills and knowledge to current problems. Student work has received recognition from state, national, and international organizations for exceptional problem-solving solutions and for their analysis using geographic information science.

How to Declare (Admission and Declaration Process)

Admissions applications with essays and deadlines are no longer required to declare a major in Environmental Studies.

Pathways for Major Declaration in Environmental Studies

There are two pathways to declaring a major within Environmental Studies:

Declare a pre-major and then declare a Major upon completion of admission requirements.
Declare a major upon completion of admissin requirements.

Pre-Major Declaration

Students can declare a pre-major at any time. Upon completion of admission requirements, these students can then declare a major.

Benefits of declaring a pre-major are:

Receive priority registration for restricted sections of ENVS 203 and ENVS 204, both required for entry into the major, and ENVS 201.
Assignment of a College of the Environment professional advisor and a faculty advisor.
Included in the College’s email distribution list of announcements and internships.

To declare as Pre-major:

Go to the College of the Environment Undergraduate Student Forms webpage
Click on the link to the Pre-major Declaration Form under the Declaration Forms section.
Fill in the form with your information, writing in Environmental Studies as your pre-major.
Submit the form to CENV@wwu.edu.

Processing your pre-major declaration form can take a couple of weeks. Do not wait until registration to submit.

Upon completion of admission requirements, declare a major using the process below.

Major Declaration

Students must meet the following requirements to declare a major:

Confirmed admission to Western Washington University.
ENVS 203, HNRS 215, or equivalent transfer credit (completion with C- or better).
ENVS 204 or equivalent transfer credit (completion with C- or better).

To declare as a major:

Go to the College of the Environment Undergraduate Student Forms webpage.
Click on the link to the Major Declaration form under the Declaration Forms section.
Fill in the form with your information, writing in the name of the specific Environmental Studies major you want to declare.
Submit the form to CENV@wwu.edu.

Note that student must declare as a major for admission into the department and to have access to most upper division ENVS courses. Students who attempt to declare as a major without completing the ENVS 203 and ENVS 204 courses will be admitted as pre-majors.

If you have questions about this process, please set up an appointment with a professional adviser on our Undergrad Academic Advising webpage, visit the College of the Environment Student Support Office in Environmental Studies Building 539, or call 360-650-3520.

Recommended Deadline for Pre-Major and Major Declarations

While students may declare as pre-majors or majors at any time, students are strongly encouraged to declare early in the quarter. Students who submit a declaration form by October 6 will be given priority processing for winter quarter registration. Students who do so by January 15 will be given priority processing for spring quarter registration. Students who submit by April 18 will be given priority processing for summer and fall quarter registration.

Declaring an Environmental Studies pre-major or major does not guarantee you access to all ENVS courses. Some classes have pre-requisites and others are highly sought after by many students. When classes fill and long waitlists develop, we follow the department waitlist priority policy.

Note that extension program degrees and some combined major degrees may have different declaration processes. Review the catalog for the specific declaration process for your desired major.

Advising Tips

ENVS 201 is a requirement for many Environmental Studies courses; students are encouraged to complete this requirement as soon as possible to avoid delaying access to upper division ENVS courses.

Many other General University Requirements provide good foundations for studying the environment. The following courses are particularly encouraged:

Communications (ACOM, BCOM & CCOM): ENG 101 and courses with COMM, JOUR and ENVS prefixes.
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning (QSR): ENVS 201 and MATH 112 or MATH 240.
Natural Sciences (LSCI & SCI): ENVS 203, an LSCI course, and ESCI 225, a SCI course, are required for most Environmental Studies majors. For efficient GUR progress, choose these two courses and one additional LSCI course to complete your natural science GURs.
Social Sciences (SSC): ENVS 204 is required for most Environmental Studies majors. Other courses to consider are ENVS 115, ECON 101, PLSC 250, UEPP 202, and UEPP 270.
Additional math and sciences courses, such as MATH 114, CHEM 161 and BIOL 204 are also good GUR choices as these courses will allow enrollment in a broader range of upper division environmental science courses in the College of the Environment.

Faculty

REBEKAH PACI-GREEN (2007) Chair and Associate Professor, BS (civil and environmental engineering), University of Washington; PhD (civil engineering, minors in cultural anthropology and science & technology studies), Cornell University.
ANDREW J. BACH (1995) Professor. BS, MA (geography), University of California-Davis; PhD (geography), Arizona State University.
PATRICK H. BUCKLEY (1987) Professor. BS (civil engineering and geology), University of Notre Dame; MA (economic geography and South Asian studies), University of Washington; PhD (economic geography), Boston University.
KATE J. DARBY (2010) Associate Professor. BS, Pennsylvania State University (chemical engineering); MS, University of Oregon (certificate: Not-for-Profit Management); PhD, Arizona State University (environment, technology and society).
AQUILA FLOWER (2013) Associate Professor. BA (geography), Humboldt State University; MS (geography), University of Victoria; PhD (geography), University of Oregon.
NINI HAYES (2015) Associate Professor. BA (outdoor education and interpretation), Western Washington University; M.I.T (elementary education k-8); Ed.S. (social justice education); Ed.D. (teacher education and school improvement).
FRANCISCO J. LASO (2023) Associate Professor. BA (Evolution and Environmental Biology) Columbia University, M.Sc. (Ecology and Evolution) Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and Univerité Montpellier II, Ph.D. (Geography) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
MICHAEL J. MEDLER (2002) Professor. BS (philosophy), MS (environmental studies), University of Oregon; PhD (geography), University of Arizona.
O. EUGENE MYERS (1995) Professor. BS (human ecology), Western Washington University; MA, PhD (psychology and human development), University of Chicago.
MARK NEFF (2009) Associate Professor. BA (German Literature and Language), MS (Environmental Studies), University of Oregon; PhD (Life Sciences and Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes), Arizona State University.
DAVID A. ROSSITER (2005) Professor. BA (Honors), University of British Columbia; MA (geography); PhD, (geography) York University.
NICK STANGER (2014) Associate Professor. BS Honors (Comparison of Temperate Old-Growth Forest Epiphyte Communities), MA (Youth and Environmental Art), Royal Roads University; PhD (Replacing Ourselves in Nature), University of Victoria.
XI WANG (2021) Assistant Professor. BA (English Literature), Cornell University; MS (Environmental Studies), University of Colorado; PhD (Geography), University of Colorado.

Emeritus Faculty

JOHN C. MILES Professor Emeritus of College of the Environment. BA, MA, University of Oregon; PhD, The Union Institute.
DEBNATH MOOKHERJEE Professor Emeritus of Geography. BSc, MSc, University of Calcutta; PhD, University of Washington.
LYNN A. ROBBINS Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies. BA, University of Utah; MA, PhD, University of Oregon.
BRADLEY F. SMITH Professor Emeritus of College of the Environment. BA, MA, Western Michigan University; PhD, University of Michigan.
THOMAS A. TERICH Professor Emeritus of Geography. BA and MA, California State University, Los Angeles; PhD, Oregon State University.
HERBERT H. WEBBER Professor Emeritus of Geography and Environmental Social Sciences. BSc, PhD, University of British Columbia.

Affiliated Faculty

NATALIE BALOY Assistant Professor, Anthropology
JOHN BOWER Professor, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies
DON BURGESS Professor, Science, Math and Technology Education (SMATE)
DOLORES CALDERON Professor, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies
CLAYTON PIERCE Professor, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies
JENNIFER SELTZ Associate Professor, History
MART STEWART Professor, History
JOHN TUXILL Associate Professor, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies
VERONICA VELEZ Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Secondary Education
CAMERON WHITELY Associate Professor, Sociology

Affiliated Teaching Faculty

ZANDER ALBERTSON (Senior Instructor), MS (Environmental Studies), Western Washington University.
KAI HOFFMAN-KRULL (Instructor), MA (Environmental Literature and Philosophy), Yale University
CATHY REIDY-LIERMANN (Instructor), MS (Forest Hydrology) University of Washington, PhD (Physical Geography - Ecohydrology) Umeå University
BRANDEN RISHEL (Instructor), BS (Geography), University of Oregon
JEFF SHAW (Instructor), MA (Technology and Communication), UNC Chapel Hill
SYLVIA HADNOT (Instructor), MA (Urban Environmental Education), Antioch University Seattle
TYSON WALDO (Senior Instructor), MS (Geography), Western Washington University.

Graduate Study

For concentrations leading to the Master of Arts or the Master of Education degrees, see the Graduate School section of this catalog.

Programs

Undergraduate Major

Undergraduate Combined Major

Undergraduate Extension

Undergraduate Minor

Graduate

Certification

Courses

Environmental Studies

Courses numbered X37; X97; 300, 400, 500 are described in the University Academic Policies section of this catalog.

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