Increasing population, technological demands and the continued quest for a higher standard of living impose expanding demands on finite global resources. As an Environmental Studies student, you'll study the effects of these stresses on the Earth and its inhabitants in the classroom, field and laboratories.
School/Division
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Campus Locations
Main Campus - Alfred, NY
Major
Environmental Studies (BA)
Double Major
Double Major option(s) offered.
Minor
Environmental Studies
All our majors engage in independent undergraduate research projects as part of the Environmental Studies program. The topics of these projects vary greatly, depending on the interests of the students and their career objectives. Senior projects involved data collection, analysis and report writing with the research experience culminating with a poster presentation at the Undergraduate Research Forum in late April.
All students have access to a vast array of state-of-the-art field, laboratory, and computer equipment within the Environmental Studies Division as well as the other science and engineering departments on campus. This makes Alfred University's undergraduate program one of the best equipped in the country.
In collaboration with our Career Development Center, we assist students in securing summer experiences such as field research positions and internships. Along with opportunities to work with faculty as research assistants over the summer, these experiences prepare students for a variety of career opportunities and post-graduate education in fields related to the environment.
Our labs are equipped with research-grade instruments including an ion chromatograph, atomic absorption spectrophotometer and capillary zone electrophoresis instrumentation.
We employ compaction meters, soil moisture collectors, various microscopes and extensive wet-laboratory equipment. And shovels too!
Our students develop skills using a variety of field equipment such as multi-parameter water quality probes, sediment samplers, automated water samplers, flow meters, field dissolved oxygen, pH and electrical conductivity meters. We have two boats to assist in sampling efforts.
You will have the opportunity to learn bird research techniques at the Emerson Bird Banding Station located near campus. We have federal and state permits allowing us to capture and study birds as part of coordinated national research efforts.
We offer a course in which you may spend 10 days at the Gerace Research Center in the Bahamas studying terrestrial ecosystems, inland lakes and marine habitats like tidal bays, shallow grass flats and some of the best coral reefs to be found in the Caribbean.
In addition to the bird banding station, you will have access to the equipment necessary for small mammal trapping, turtle trapping and VHF radio telemetry.
The division features a fully-equipped Geographic Information Systems (GIS) laboratory complete with sub-meter scale Global Positioning Systems units, handheld GPS units, GPS-enabled tablets, a dedicated GIS specialist, a 36-inch color plotter and the latest version of the most frequently used GIS software.
Environmental Studies as a double major in Environmental Science is available to all AU students. Courses for the Environmental Studies Double Major are listed in our digital Undergraduate Catalog.
Environmental Studies as a double major in Natural Science is available to all AU students. Courses for the Environmental Studies Double Major are listed in our digital Undergraduate Catalog.
Environment and Society as a double major is available to all AU students. Courses for Environment and Society Double Major are listed in our digital Undergraduate Catalog.
Courses for the Environmental Studies major with a concentration in Natural Science are listed in our digital Undergraduate Catalog.
Courses for the Environmental Studies major with a concentration in Social Science are listed in our digital Undergraduate Catalog.
Courses for the Environmental Studies major with a concentration in Environmental Science are listed in our digital Undergraduate Catalog.
Courses for the Environmental Studies minor are listed in our digital Undergraduate Catalog.
In addition to fulfilling the requirements of the major in Environmental Studies, as well as the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences general education requirements, you'll be required to complete the College's First Year Experience Program or Transfer Student Program.
Environmental Studies graduates have found interesting and rewarding employment in a wide range of careers. The experience and qualifications acquired throughout their studies, research projects and internships enable graduates to work as environmental professionals in government regulatory departments, in private industry, and with private environmental consulting firms. Many of our graduates continue on to graduate school.
Examples of recent graduates include:
Our headquarters in the Science Center include wet labs, two geology labs and a water analysis lab in addition to classrooms. We also offer access to facilities off-campus. We operate a hydrologic field laboratory, consisting of seven groundwater wells fully instrumented to measure and record water levels and other parameters such as temperature, electrical conductivity and pressure. We also manage weather stations, one of which we use to contribute data to the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. We use Foster Lake, a 223-acre Alfred University property, as a field laboratory for Environmental Studies classes and student research. In addition, an abundance of public state lands in close proximity to Alfred provides access to a variety of natural communities.
All Alfred Facilities
Students interested in Alfred University's Environmental Studies major my consider a minor or double major in the following related programs:
