Whether the issue is global climate change, tropical deforestation, or invasive plant species in your backyard, public concern over environmental issues is on the rise. With this understanding comes the need for informed and educated individuals to play key leadership roles to find solutions to these and many other environmental problems. Xavier University recognizes its responsibility in training the next generation of environmental professionals and is proud to offer an interdisciplinary Environmental Science major.
Environmental science is the interdisciplinary study of the impact of human systems on our natural environment and how in turn these natural systems affect the human environment. We have designed our major to have three vital components.
- Strong scientific foundations, environmental problems often reveal themselves as ecological systems fail but in order to fix underlying problems other biological sciences, chemistry, and physics are often needed;
- Inter-disciplinarity, solving environmental problems requires good science but also an understanding of the economic, political, and human social systems to get policies and technologies implemented;
- An applied program component, environmental scientists are problem solvers so it is necessary to give students more than just classroom exercises but real world experience.