Environmental Studies

Professor Peter Siver measuring the river with a student researcher

Begun in 1969, the Program in Environmental Studies at Connecticut College is one of the oldest programs of its kind in the nation.

The environmental studies major at Connecticut College links the theoretical and the practical. It is a science major with an additional emphasis on the social sciences. This program has provided students with the scientific basis to confront issues of humankind and the environment.

The focus of the program is to provide students an opportunity to examine environmental issues using a multidisciplinary approach through the integration of classroom, laboratory, field and study-away experiences. Our goal is to provide a broad background in environmental studies that will enable our students to pursue a wide range of career possibilities.

Faculty from ten different departments actively participate in the program as instructors, advisors and research mentors. Numerous opportunities exist for students to pursue independent research with faculty mentors both in the summer and during the academic year, as well as internships through the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies.

The college's 750-acre Arboretum, which encompasses the campus, is both a laboratory and a classroom, with its ponds, woods and wetlands. Numerous nearby freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats offer a rich diversity of opportunities for field study. The Thames River estuary, with a rich variety of physical settings from salt marshes to wooded hills to open fields, provides many challenging settings for class and independent study. Local and state agencies offer opportunities to intern in the areas of environmental planning, energy use audits, land use, and water resources development.