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Environment, Society, and Sustainability Department
Contribute to the Global Health of People and the Environment
Welcome to the Environment, Society and Sustainability Department. Join us for interactive classes where you’ll learn how to combat the most pressing issues facing our planet and you’ll prepare for a successful and meaningful career across a wide range of professions.
You’ll understand how physical and natural aspects of the world integrate with the social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of the world to recognize and redress issues related to environmental racism and climate justice.
Our programs offer a rich integrative experience thanks to a diverse group of faculty trained in a wide range of disciplines, including urban planning, geology, astronomy, geographic information systems, physics, engineering, human cultural diversity and environmental justice.
You can choose from the following majors that represent the spectrum of science and policy, including:
- Environmental Science – Focus on how science can improve the natural world. This major offers concentrations in Environmental Science and Policy, Earth and Planetary Systems, and Secondary Education in Earth and Planetary Systems.
- Environmental Studies and Social Justice- Examine the connections between the science and policy aspects of global environmental problems and issues of equity and justice.
- Geospatial and Data Analysis – Apply advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to solve complex problems.
- Pre-Engineering Program - This two- or three-year Pre-Engineering program provides pathways to engineering degrees at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
As a graduate, you will be ready to embark in professional employment in governmental agencies, private corporations, non-profit organizations, and consulting firms.
You will also be prepared to pursue a graduate degree in a specialized field including Environmental Science, Conservation Biology, Resource Management, Environmental Planning, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Law, and Environmental Education.
Tier Navigation
- Biology
- Chemistry and Food Science
- Computer Science
- Environment, Society, and Sustainability
- Mathematics
- Nursing
- Nutrition and Health Studies
- Pre-Health Studies Program
- Advancing Early Career AGEP Population
Our Programs
Prioritizing Climate Change Knowledge and Agency
The feature story for the most recent issue of Framingham State Magazine was focused on the teaching of the Climate Crisis within the Environment, Society and Sustainability Department.
As the Planet Gets Warmer, Educators at FSU Aim to Build Students’ Understanding of Global Warming in Ways That Inspire Them to Take Action
You can read the article here: https://publications.framingham.edu/story/fsu-fall-24-digital-alumni-magazine-wip/page/12
Mission
The mission of the Department of Environment, Society, and Sustainability is to provide students with an integrated learning experience encompassing the major social-environmental problems of our planet. Uniquely, we approach such problems-including the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, changes in land system use, and rising social inequality and conflict-through the natural and social sciences as well as considerations of justice and ethics.
The interdisciplinary nature of the department offers students a strong foundation in the physical sciences; broad training in geospatial technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and remote sensing; and environmental policy applications through experiential, collaborative, laboratory, field, capstone, and seminar learning opportunities.
We offer students the opportunity to examine the human-natural relationship at multiple scales: the local and regional explorations of human and natural diversity, the planet-scale impacts of human civilization on the biophysical systems that maintain life on Earth, and Earth as part of the solar system and the universe.
Furthermore, we offer students the ability to integrate physical and natural aspects of the world with the social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of the world to recognize and redress issues related to environmental racism and climate justice.
Through faculty trained in multiple disciplines, from urban planning to geology, from astronomy to geographical information systems, from physics and engineering to human cultural diversity and environmental justice, our programs offer a rich integrative experience to students that matches the transdisciplinary nature of the world’s most challenging problems.
Jenny Melara-Valle, ’23, Environmental Science
"I’ve worked alongside my professor to study the impacts of Climate Change off the coast of Maine and earned an internship at Princeton University where I learned from scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration"
Rachel DeFronzo, ’15, EARTH Education Coordinator, Southwick's Zoo
"I love educating the public about wildlife conservation. I've always been passionate about wildlife, and I was able to complete my capstone project at FSU on black bear movement in Massachusetts."