About the Department of Environmental Science

Message from the Department Chair

Welcome to the Department of Environmental Science (ENSC)!  Environmental science seeks to understand how the earth functions and how we can mitigate the many challenges it faces from our growing human population: overuse of natural resources, pollution, loss of biodiversity, climate change and more. Our program's mission is to educate and prepare students for careers in environmental protection, education, research and conservation.  Our undergraduate degree plans are interdisciplinary while allowing students to specialize in environmental biology, environmental chemistry, environmental geology or physical geology, and provide for research, practicum or internship experiences along the way.  Graduate students may select between an on-campus M.S. specializing in environmental biology, environmental chemistry or environmental geology, or a 100% online M.S. in general environmental science. The ENSC faculty are dedicated scholars who conduct interesting and meaningful field and laboratory research projects geared to undergraduate and graduate student participation. We are very proud of our graduates, many of whom are working in local, state and federal agencies, environmental consulting, industry, non-profits, and education, and some of whom are further pursuing their Ph.D. degree. We are always eager to talk to you about turning your interest in the environment, sustainability, fish  and wildlife, (hydro)geology, water/wastewater pollution and control, environmental analysis, environmental remediation, atmospheric science and dispersion modeling or teaching others into an important degree and an exciting career.