Environmental Studies - BA

Environmental Studies (ES) trains and prepares students to be world-class leaders in multidisciplinary analysis, problem solving for environmental health and sustainability, and transformative social change in the 21st century. The program is highly interdisciplinary, and as a student in the program you’ll be able to explore a wide variety of environmental topics, drawing on concepts, theories, and research methods from the natural and physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities. You’ll be encouraged to generate innovative ideas through research, and you’ll gain the scholarly background and practical skills needed to envision solutions to pressing environmental challenges and to become an agent for change for a healthy and just environment. The B.A. degree is deeply interdisciplinary, requiring a swath of introductory courses from many disciplines and stressing the importance of comprehending basic social, cultural, and scientific theories and understanding how they interact with one another. While this degree will make you science-literate, it also offers maximum flexibility and you can select ES electives and outside concentration courses from just about every academic discipline at UCSB. Students who pursue this degree are often interested in developing a higher degree of writing proficiency and general communication skills, and they go on to seek opportunities dealing with interdisciplinary social, political, and economic issues.

• Government

• International corporations

• Nonprofit organizations

• Law and Public Policy

• Urban, Regional, Recreation, and Landscape Planning and Architecture

• Education

• Business

• Public Administration

• Santa Barbara County Planning and Development

• Environmental Defense Center

• U.S. National Park Service

• Established after the 1969 Santa Barabra Oil Spill, our program is one of the first and largest ones in the country

• 40% of our majors graduate with a double major and/or at least one minor

• We provide over $40,000 a year in department scholarships

• We offer experiential education opportunties such as academic internships, studying abroad, environmental field projects, and undergraduate research opportunities with ES faculty

• Climate change

• Environmental justice

• Sustainability

• Interdisciplinary

• Environmental Leadership Incubator (ELI)

• UC Education Abroad Program (EAP)

• Ecosystem and Habitat Restoration (UCSB Cheadle Center)

• Environmental Humanities Center

• UCSB Sustainability

• Environmental Studies and Bren School of Environmental Science and Management Fellowship Program

Dept Website: www.es.ucsb.edu

B.A. vs B.S. degree in Environmental Studies: https://es.ucsb.edu/degrees

Department Scholarships: https://es.ucsb.edu/scholarships