What You'll Learn
Gain a deep understanding of environmental issues. Apply your knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems in fields like environmental consulting, conservation science, and land management.
Choose from two tracks that will prepare you for your unique career goals. Interested in an environmental career, tackling issues like soil erosion and water pollution? Consider the Natural Resources track. Drawn to a career as a park ranger or field technician? The Naturalist track will prepare you to thrive as an environmental interpreter.
And your studies won't take place only in the classroom. As an environmental science student, you'll be part of a program where you’ll get outside and put your learning to work. You might work to restore local waterways, study the ecology of the Great Lakes dunes firsthand, or take an intensive course on field techniques in land management.
What Makes This Program Great
- Professional-grade facilities: You'll have access to a huge collection of minerals, rocks, and fossils, as well as a vast collection of maps, a dedicated geo-spatial analysis lab, drones, an on-campus research sand dune, a seismograph, a weather station, and more.
- Real-world research opportunities: As a GEO student, you'll have the chance to do research with your professors during the academic year and summer. Calvin GEO students have done research into Lake Michigan coastal dunes, a Pleistocene mastadon, the Plaster Creek watershed, and more.
- Practical job experience: The GEO department hires more students than any other department. Students are hired yearly for a wide variety of positions, from managing a map library to maintaining the university weather station.
- Study off-campus: Calvin GEO students study off-campus in places as diverse as Montana, Hawaii, Kenya, Scotland, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, and Yosemite National Park.
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Why choose environmental science?
Active, fulfilling lifestyle
Environmental Science gives the opportunity to do much more than sit behind a desk or work in a lab, hands-on fieldwork and sampling are included in many positions
High demand, and well paying jobs
The job market for environmental scientists is growing quickly, and offers very good pay.
Purpose
You can be a part of the solution for many of the critical problems that our world is facing. Contribute to the global effort to restore, and preserve our planet.
Careers in environmental science
Park & Outdoor Recreation Management
Promoting a healthy lifestyle and environment, contributing to the livability of communities, and informing policy, economic development, and stewardship at local, national, and international levels.
- Implement community recreation and sport programs
- Manage natural and cultural resources
Forestry
As our human population continues to increase, forests and other natural resources are valued more for the serenity they provide, the organisms they support, and the products they produce.
- Creating, managing, conserving, and repairing forest resources
- Applying ecology, GIS, and environmental sciences
- Managing demand for timber, fuel, water quality, habitat, recreation, employment, and environmental wholeness
Environmental Law
Provide legal council to clients on a broad range of environmental issues.
- Advocating contested matters before regulatory agencies
- Environmental civil actions
- Energy related issues
- Permits, agreements, reports and other documents to ensure environmental compliance
- Cities, colleges, corporations, development groups, farms, gas stations, and private land owners
Fishery & Wildlife Management
Institute effective solutions to complex systems at local and national levels.
- High demand field, with good pay
- Fish and ecosystems
- Teaching, research, management
Land & Water Conservation
Conserve irreplaceable lands and waterways, and improve outdoor recreation opportunities across the nation.
- State and local efforts
- Preserve natural areas, historical sites, and wildlife habitat
- Quality outdoor recreation for all
Environmental Planning
Facilitating decision making to carry out land development with consideration given to the natural environment, social, political, economic and governance factors to achieve sustainable outcomes.
- Social and economic development
- Urban, and regional development
- Natural resource management
- Infrastructure systems
Environmental Eduation & Communication
Educate the public about important environmental topics and ways of responding to issues, and help communicate the scientific discussions to a wider audience.
- Teaching in informal settings
- Written, oral, and electronic communications
- Government agencies, nature centers, parks, nongovernmental organizations, and similar institutions.
