Environmental Science

Environmental Science

Details

Discover your passions, interests, and abilities while exploring the multiple careers available in the environmental sector at Carroll College.

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About the Program

Whether these passions thrive in environmental assessment, resource conservation, or continued studies in the field, your career path will be defined by what you enjoy. environmental Science degree offers a soundly integrated and interdisciplinary science background for students supported by coursework in analytical methods and applications, abundant field experience, and aspects of the human dimensions of environmental science. While working to get your Environmental Science degree, you will benefit from an abundance of project-based, experiential learning to prepare yourself confidently as a graduate. 

Our engaged faculty members have created a field-based curriculum that allows you to pick from a wide field of possibilities including wildlife conservation, earth science, water resources, energy, environmental health, chemistry/toxicology, law and policy, sustainable agriculture, nature writing, outdoor leadership and more. Whether you head straight into an environmental career or continue with graduate study, as an environmental science major, you will be prepared to make a difference.

Ecology in Yellowstone

Winter Ecology in Yellowstone

Professors at Carroll created a unique two-week course for environmental science majors to explore the ecosystem located in Carroll’s backyard and study the relationships between living organisms and their winter environment.

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Week Course

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Why Carroll?

At Carroll, location is key. You won’t find a better place to pursue an environmental science major than Montana, especially Helena. Our campus is nestled between the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountain sand the Missouri River, surrounded by vast acres of National Forest and a short drive to the crown jewels Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. On any given day you can explore Yellowstone on snowshoes, take sediment cores in a mountain lake, map trout streams, or study alpine tree-line forest communities.

The opportunities to enhance your Environmental Science degree are abundant here, too. You will be minutes away from numerous and meaningful internship opportunities with organizations like the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the EPA, Forest Service, the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Natural Heritage Program, Montana Wilderness Association, and many others. Our environmental science majors are sought after as interns for both summer and semester-based internships.

Environmental Science Winter Coring

Research Grant

The Carroll College Environmental Science program has received a research grant from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to study climate and landscape history.

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Grant Amount

$69,748

Graduates of our Environmental Science degree program are prepared to succeed whether they continue with graduate study or begin work right away. Through these courses, you will be able to:

  • Build a solid interdisciplinary foundation in sciences, social science, and philosophy.
  • Solve the current environmental challenges in our world and ensure a sustainable future.
  • Understand multiple fields of sciences and the process of science, as well as the historical, social, political, cultural, economic, and ethical perspectives that are inherent and vital components of any ecological or environmental system.

The professional educational objectives of the Environmental Science degree program are to produce graduates who have:

  • The specialized knowledge, skills, and global perspective necessary to pursue a future in their chosen profession.
  • The practical hands-on experience needed to facilitate their entry into the environmental science career of their choice.
  • The evidence-based perspectives are necessary for today’s local, national, and global environmental challenges and solutions.

You can make an impact. We believe in learning from experience and intentionally integrate varied perspectives, fields of knowledge, and practice through a core sequence of three “ES Integrative” courses. These are designed to help students first discover their interests, then define goals and direction, and finally reflect on their four years of diverse learning experiences. Our Environmental Science degree program is set up for you to understand the “big picture” of who you have become and where you want to go. Work includes occupations like:

  • Field Scientist
  • Policy Maker
  • Outdoor Educator
  • Resource Manager

The short answer is, yes! Environmental careers are on the rise and involve many employment sectors. Now, more than ever, the world needs capable problem-solvers to integrate sound knowledge and practice in natural science with the social, economic, political, and ethical dimensions of the environmental problems we face in the 21st century.

As a graduate of our Environmental Science degree program, you will be prepared to succeed if you continue with graduate study or begin work right away. Our recent alumni have entered Ph.D. programs at leading universities, been directly hired into permanent scientist positions at government agencies, and have found rewarding work as forest ranger/ naturalists, non-profit development directors, and environmental consultants.

Featured Courses

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ES 124

Climate and Environment

This course provides basic scientific knowledge and understanding of how our planet works from a global environmental systems perspective. 

ES 200

Conservation Biology

A course designed to improve the scientific literacy of students interested in solving the conservation/environmental challenges that result from the overuse of natural resources.

ES 381

Landscape Processes

A project and field-based introduction to the identification and interpretation of landforms, investigation of landscape forming processes (streams, glaciers, weathering, slopes), and the interpretation of climate / environmental history from sediments and stratigraphy.

SMALL SCHOOL. BIG PROGRAM. 

At Carroll, you get the benefit of a strong liberal arts education: small classes, attention from faculty, research,career-oriented and internship opportunities that are simply not available at larger universities. Likewise, we stand out among smaller colleges by offering three distinct and career oriented environmental majors, all of them emphasizing field study and experiential learning. We encourage and allow time for discovery, but also provide direction. You get the best of all worlds at Carroll

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