Environmental science is an interdisciplinary major/minor that applies biological, physical, and information sciences to solve challenges in natural and managed ecosystems. Students start from the ground up (from Soil Science to Ecosystem Science) and study the interaction of things such as plants, water, microbes, and policies.
As you go through your degree, you will discover how societal and ecological dynamics shape the world we live in. You will learn how environmental pressures affect the human family and then acquire the tools you need to make a difference in our rapidly changing world. From improving sustainability in our communities to measuring the pulse of the planet, come join us and help build a better world for humanity and all of God’s creations.
Environmental scientists, such as Dr. Booth pictured here, tend to have very high career satisfaction.
2. Mentored Research
Most environmental students participate in mentored research with many opportunities for research, leadership and authorship. Mentored research provides excellent experience for job, graduate school, and professional school applications.
Annual Environmental Science study abroad opportunities that allow you to take core courses overseas as well as participate in research and experience new cultures.
Career placement opportunities in the private sector, the public sector, NGOs and local, state, and federal government. Excellent preparation for professional school and graduate school.
From field trips to networking events to engaging panel discussions, the Environmental Science Club is known for incredible events and fantastic members.
COVID-19 isn’t the only worldwide emergency affecting billions of people—climate change continues to threaten us with devastating implications. Here are some ways to help.
ESS undergraduate Natasha Griffin has presented at conferences in Europe, ridden in a helicopter and visited both the North and South Poles to figure out how humans are affecting the Earth.
We all know intuitively that polluted air isn't good for our bodies or communities, but just how much is air pollution costing us? ESS undergraduates and faculty led a statewide study to answer just that.
ESS PhD student Sara Sayedi wanted to use science to improve policy in her home country of Iran, but politics limited her work in the public arena. Now at BYU, she is influencing policy at a global scale.
Environmental degradation harms every individual by causing pervasive decline of life on Earth, but it doesn’t impact everyone to the same degree. ESS professor Ben Abbott shares three ways to improve your understanding on how environmental justice affects you and your community.
ESS professor Ben Abbott presents a new tool to fight nutrient pollution. Streams can be “sensors” of ecosystem health, allowing both improved water quality and food production.
If Utah’s quaking aspen appear to be quaking more than usual this summer, the trees have reason to tremble, says a Brigham Young University biologist. In dappled forests across the West, aspen trees are battling deadly killers from heat stroke to bud-nipping predators to tree “heart attacks.”
ESS professor Ben Abbott co-authored a study in Nature on the permafrost climate feedback. Working with an international team, he found that abrupt permafrost collapse could double carbon release.
A new study in Nature Geoscience led by ESS professor and students found that the global water cycle is incorrect even in modern papers and textbooks. 85% of diagrams show no people, despite human domination of water at a global scale.
Will we show up in the geologic record in millions of years? The Anthropocene suggests the answer is yes: collective human impact on the environment will leave a definitive mark in future bedrock.