Seattle is a great place to study environmental science. One of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States, Seattle is also built on the shoreline of one of the world's great estuaries, Puget Sound. Unfortunately, urban growth and other environmental stressors have had significant environmental impacts. Managing our unique natural heritage is one of the greatest challenges faced by the region. Thankfully, the fragility of the natural systems is being addressed by federal, state, and local research agencies as well as by a range of consulting companies and foundations. Seattle is a regional and national hub for this kind of research, meaning that there are a number of opportunities for SU students both during their time at SU and post-graduation, as they begin to work with resource management agencies, private consulting firms, or as they pursue environmental graduate studies.
Science Fundamentals: Apply principles from biology, ecology, chemistry, physics, geology, mathematics, and engineering to examine the natural history, ecosystems, and environmental problems of the Pacific Northwest and to place them in a global context. Experimentation: Plan, safely conduct, and document fieldwork and lab experiments that account for the spatial and temporal complexity inherent within natural systems. Critical Thinking: Develop and test scientific hypotheses using critical thinking skills and contemporary tools. Communication: Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences in written and oral forms using reasoning that draws from the scientific literature and is supported by data presented as figures, tables, maps, photographs, and in other graphical forms. Policy: Evaluate how science can inform the development of policy to address environmental problems such as biodiversity loss, pollution, resource depletion, and climate change. Teamwork: Collaborate on multidisciplinary teams that apply scientific expertise and input from diverse stakeholders to characterize and address environmental problems.
