The College of the Environment (COE) will formally be announced during Homecoming this weekend in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of the College of Social Studies (CSS) and the College of Letters (COL). The Educational Policy Committee (EPC), which is in charge of approving curriculum changes, voted to pass the measure last week. COE did not require a faculty vote because the main academic branch of the new college, the new Environmental Studies linked major, was approved by the faculty last April.
COE is slated to open to juniors and seniors next fall. One part of the new college will be the Environmental Studies linked major, which requires students to choose a primary major in addition to the Environmental Studies major, and the Environmental Studies concentration. All Environmental Studies majors and certificate students will be automatically included in the COE.
The other branch of COE will be a new first-in-the nation environmental think tank, which will bring in various experts from different fields to collaborate on one environmental issue each year. These experts will teach seminar classes for COE students and senior majors will be able to participate in and base their senior capstone projects on research done in the think-tank.
“Once we decide about how to run the first think tank we will decide how to advertise for students to join the think tank,” said Director of the Environmental Studies Certificate Program Barry Chernoff, who spearheaded COE. “The task force will be meeting to discuss how to implement the first think tank on November 11.”
The first eight Environmental Studies majors, who declared the major last year when it was announced, have been working on creating capstone projects that connect their two majors. The students’ primary majors vary and include biology, Science in Society, sociology, English, earth and environmental science, American Studies, CSS, government, psychology, and philosophy.
At the first Environmental Studies colloquium, the eight senior majors discussed their plans for their capstone projects. Caitlin McHugh ’10 is focusing on environmental science versus environmental ethics portrayed in children’s fiction. Anne Rosenthal ’10 is researching the effects of a nuclear power plant on one small French town. Sam Bernhardt ’10 may focus on further developing a Green Room radio show on WESU. Ariana LaPorte ’10 is researching how conservation movements in developed countries are influencing similar movements in developing countries with a focus on the relationships between indigenous groups, the government, and outside conservation groups. Megan Hughes ’10 is developing a project based on her research done this past summer in Michigan about the impact of zebra mussels on native dragonfly larvae populations. Laura Scholten ’10 is thinking about writing an environmental romance novel or nonfiction nature essay. Satrio Wicaksono ’10 is basing his project on his research conducted in Puerto Rico on bivalve crustaceans. Sara Shor ’10 is expanding work on environmental justice based on research conducted in Harlem this past summer about urban environmental health and the adverse effects on communities of racial and low-income backgrounds.
These eight seniors will be the first members of the College of the Environment.
Leave a Reply