Maryville College - Environmental Studies / Environmental Science Program

The Environmental Studies (ENV) major provides you with a wide-ranging set of skills that prepares to you tackle planet-wide issues of sustainability, ecology, green building, environmental business practices and non-governmental advocacy of environmental issues.

This major requires a minimum of 52 credit hours and is housed in the Social Sciences, insuring that you will gain a strong background in economics, politics, sociology and business from a North American and global perspective. The other courses in the major are in math, the humanities, education and the natural sciences, where you will gain skills in analyzing data, best practices in laboratory and field sciences, and environmental education training. As one of the only majors at MC with a required practicum, you will be expected to take your knowledge and apply it in the world beyond campus. Students have interned at any one of over 20 environmental wildlife, renewable energy, air, and water or soil organizations.

ENV graduates work at the US Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Tennessee, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in a variety of large and small businesses developing efficient, sustainable products and processes. We have ENV graduates who are practicing lawyers and ENV graduates who currently patrol and guide visitors and rangers for the US National Park Service.

Students also may want to pair the Environmental Science minor with a Biology or Chemistry major. Because Environmental Science is an applied field, students are strongly encouraged to include in their programs an internship or practicum at one of the institutions with which Maryville College maintains a research arrangement. The minor prepares students for work in ecology, biology, wildlife, fisheries, environmental science or earth sciences (geology, hydrology, soil science).

The College offers a minor in Environmental Sustainability that is designed to complement any major and provide a lens into the economic, environmental and social tiers of any field of study. The minor provides a global perspective, all while maintaining important roots in local Appalachian culture. Some of the careers the minor prepares students for includes: sustainability officers at colleges and universities; staff/leadership in environmental, social justice or ecological non-governmental organizations; sustainability staff for major corporations; and compliances officers in local, state, national or international governments.

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