Opportunities for environmental sustainability study at Clark
Clark University has a long tradition of involvement with environmental sustainability issues, and undergraduates, graduate students and faculty work together to understand and find solutions to problems affecting the biosphere. Read more:
- Environmental Science students and faculty collaborate in research.
- Clark Labs, led by geography professor Ron Eastman, assists Conservation International with the development and modeling of carbon emissions baselines.
- Geography professors Colin Polsky and Gil Pontius and their students study coastal environmental sustainability with the help of a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation.
- Geography professor Karen Frey discusses her research into sea ice and climate change in the Bering Sea
- Laura Merner '08 used her background in environmental science to work on and and water quality issues in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
- Rachel Shmookler '09 talks about her earth systems science research in Perth, Australia during her semester abroad.
Academic Programs
| Program | B.A. | M.A. | Ph.D. |
| Earth Systems Science | x | ||
| Environmental Conservation and Biology | x | ||
| Environmental Science and Policy* | x | x | |
| Geography | x | x | |
| Global Environmental Studies | x | ||
| Geographic Information Science for Development and Environment* | x | x | |
| Community Development and Planning* | x | x |
*Programs where qualified Clark students can pursue an accelerated B.A./M.A. degree.
Individual courses related to the environment are also available through many other departments.
Clark institutes and initiatives involved in environmental research
The Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise seeks to improve, through the successful mobilization of use-inspired research, the effectiveness of government and other institutions in addressing social concerns, including environmental sustainability and global change.
The George Perkins Marsh Institute conducts collaborative and interdisciplinary research on human-environment relationships within a wide range of research themes such as risks and hazards, the human dimensions of global environmental change, resource and environmental policy, industrialization and globalization, and the development and application of Geographic Information Science across multiple disciplines. Several centers are housed within the institute including
- The Center for Risk and Security
- The Center for Technology, Environment and Development
- The Center for Community-based Development
- Clark Labs for Cartographic Technologies and Geographic Analysis
The Human-Environment Regional Observatory-Central Massachusetts (HERO-CM) research program provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to analyze the causes and consequences of global environmental changes at local scales in faculty-led research projects. This program permits students to conduct research in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional projects.