Environmental Sciences and Policy

Program Description

UCSC offers a range of options for students to pursue environmental topics. The Environmental Studies Department offers an interdisciplinary B.A. program that emphasizes social sciences, conservation biology, and agroecology (see Environmental Studies). The Environmental Studies Department offers combined majors with the Departments of Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Economics. Effectively, the environmental studies/biology and environmental studies/Earth sciences combined majors extend the scientific training in disciplinary areas but are not intended to develop a student’s core competence to a level equivalent to that attained with a major in the related science. The Chemistry and Earth Sciences Departments offer concentrations in environmental topics within their B.A. and B.S. degree programs. The environmental sciences concentrations are designed for students in the natural sciences who wish to pursue interdisciplinary study of the environment. These develop a level of competency suitable for pursuing graduate work in these disciplinary areas or in graduate environmental programs (see descriptions in the appropriate sections: Chemistry and Earth Sciences).