Academic Connection

The Sustainable Campus Commitment
At the beginning of the Spring 2009 semester, Green Up, the Environmental Council and Office of Sustainability put together the Sustainable Campus Commitment.  The goal of the Commitment is to make sustainable living practices a fundamental habit.  By making them a part of the higher education learning process, we believe these habits will carry over into students', staff and professors' daily lives.  To view the Commitment click on the above link.

Photo: Sustainable Campus Commitment signatories Professors Greg Delanty and Reza Ramazani humorously chide their colleagues for not yet introducing the Commitment into their classrooms.

Related Links & Publicity on the Commitment:
GoCollege article
the Echo article

Environmental Science Major
Did you know that Saint Michael's College offers a degree in Environmental Science?  They do!  In fact, the college offers several options for students interested in studying topics of environmental concern in their academic programs. To find out more about the program, visit the Environmental Science Web site.

Environmental Studies Minor
Saint Michael's College offers a minor program in Environmental Studies for students with a strong interest in environmental issues but who do not necessarily wish to pursue post-graduate opportunities in the natural sciences. For more information, visit the Environmental Studies Minor webpage.

Biology Major- Environmental Track
Biology is an exciting and rapidly expanding field with great opportunities for the future. It is the third largest major at Saint Michael's College! The Biology program has 5 different tracks, in which one is the Environmental Biology track. In fact, half of the Biology majors are on the Environmental Biology track! It's definitely a growing field here. To find out more about the wonderful Biology Department and its programs, check out the Biology Web site.

First Year Seminar 191: Solving Environmental Problems
Environmental Problems require solutions that involve sound science and technology, workable public policy, and viable economic strategies.  In this course, we examine environmental issues from multiple persectives, including ecology, business, economics and public policy.  Topics we will study include alternative fuels and global climate change, water resources and pollution, conservation of biodiversity and wilderness, and human population growth.  We will examine the usefulness of the concept of sustainable development as a guide to the future.  Students will gain an understanding of the methods environmental biologists use to investigate, monitor and remediate environmental problems, as well as learn how social scientists assess the economic and political impacts of these problems and the viabaility of potential solutions.  Field trips and laboratory work are an integral part of the course.  This First-year seminar counts toward either the Social Science or the Natural Science Lab Requirement for the SMC LSR.