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Program Overview

The Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy program engages students in building knowledge and skills in the environment's ecological and social science dimensions. It is an individualized major focused on an ecological theme or the human-environment relationship. 

Students concentrate in Applied Ecology; Environmental Planning, Policy, and Law; or Integrated Natural Resources. They take foundational courses in natural or social sciences and then tap into upper-level and field-based courses to focus in areas such as aquatic ecology; terrestrial ecology; environmental policy, economics and law; community-based resource planning; environmental education; sustainability and resource management; and energy and environmental systems. 

Concentrations

Applied Ecology Concentration

The Applied Ecology curriculum explores the biology and ecology of plants and animals in both aquatic and terrestrial systems and allows students to select courses around specific individual interests.

Environmental Planning, Policy, and Law Concentration

The Environmental Planning, Policy, and Law curriculum explores interactions among individuals, communities, and society with nature, resources, and the environment. It allows students to select courses around specific individual interests such as natural resource planning and community, policy and economic dimensions of resource planning, and international dimensions of resource planning.

Integrated Natural Resources Concentration

The Integrated Natural Resources option is the right choice for students who have strong interests in natural resources and the environment, clear academic direction, and the motivation to develop a well-focused, personally meaningful course of study. Working closely with a faculty advisor, students create an individualized program.

Curriculum

All students must complete the Rubenstein School Core Curriculum. The SEP program curriculum combines course work from disciplines inside and outside the Rubenstein School to produce an individualized major. Students concentrate in Applied Ecology; Environmental Planning, Policy, and Law; or Integrated Natural Resources. 

Popular Courses

• Intro to Environmental Policy
• Dendrology (Tree identification and ecology)
• Intro to Ecological Economics
• Stream Ecology
• Environmental Law
• Intro to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Sustainability Science

Admissions

¶¶Òõ̽̽ Undergraduate Admissions

Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy students will learn foundational information about ecological principals, societal dynamics, and environmental law and policy. They will build upon this knowledge, putting their learning into practice to develop skills that will serve them in their post-college career and any advanced areas of study.

Students will gain:

• Scientific knowledge, including applications, to describe and explain biophysical and social dimensions of environment and natural resources
• Systems and process thinking skills to analyze and evaluate biophysical and social dimensions of environment and natural resources
• Methods and tools to apply in their chosen concentration
• Practice in assessing environment and natural resources in the context of sustainability

Learning Outcomes by Concentration

Applied Ecology

• Describe components, structures, processes, and functions of ecological systems, including relationships between abiotic and biotic dimensions, at multiple scales (e.g. community, landscape, global) (scientific knowledge)
• Analyze and synthesize scientific data to characterize and evaluate the status of at least one type of ecological system (systems/process thinking)
• Apply skills of measurement, spatial orientation, sampling, and data analysis to characterize natural resource phenomena (methods/tools)
• Evaluate sustainability initiatives through an interdisciplinary framework (sustainability assessment)

Environmental Planning, Policy, and Law

• Describe key social components, structures, processes, & functions occurring in a given social-environmental context at multiple scales (e.g. individual, community, institutional, global) (scientific knowledge)
• Analyze and synthesize knowledge/data about human processes related to environment/natural resources to interpret and assess a social-environmental context using conceptual frameworks from at least one area of the social sciences (systems/process thinking)
• Demonstrate skills to use evidence appropriate to chosen area of study, e.g., integrating evidence into persuasive policy arguments, gathering and analyzing data to characterize human interactions with the environment, mapping data for land use design, incorporating natural resources information into educational and interpretative tools (methods/tools)
• Evaluate sustainability initiatives through an interdisciplinary framework (sustainability assessment)

Integrated Natural Resources

• Create and complete a program of study that includes clear learning objectives and learning outcomes for conceptual foundations and applications pertinent to natural resources and environment that (1) are distinct from other majors in the Rubenstein School, (2) locate the program of study in the context of systems or processes that encompass the intersection of social and ecological dimensions of natural resources and environment, and (3) contain an integrative component that addresses the intersection of ecological and social dimensions of natural resources and environment.
• Demonstrate proposal writing skills through a proposal that explains clearly a program of study for review, input, and approval by a committee of three faculty members.
• Complete an in-depth program of study that includes learning outcomes appropriate to the defined learning objectives and courses that support the achievement of learning objectives and outcomes.

After Graduation

Careers

• Environmental Outreach Specialist
• Community Planner
• Aquatic Ecologist
• Field Ecologist
• Natural Resources Manager
• Sustainability Program Specialist
• Policy Analyst
• GIS Analyst
• ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Analyst

Where Alumni Work

• Non-profit environmental & social organizations
• Regional planning commissions
• Local, State, and Federal Government agencies
• Land conservation organizations
• Private consulting firms

Where Alumni Study

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Colorado, Boulder and Denver
• Vermont Law School
• Pace University
• University of Vermont

More

Rubenstein School Minors

3+2 and 3+3 Dual Degree Programs with Vermont Law and Graduate School