Major in Global Environmental Studies

At Clark, your education extends beyond the classroom. LEEP Center advisers can help you choose from a range of opportunities that complement your coursework and put your global environmental studies knowledge into practice.

The global environmental studies major is designed to help you learn outside the classroom. For example, you can join the Clark Undergraduate Geography Association (CUGA), which includes students majoring in geography, global environmental studies, and the earth system science track of the environmental science major. CUGA fosters a strong sense of community by organizing academic experiences, vocational workshops, social events, and field trips.

Many students take advantage of internship opportunities during the academic year or over the summer to connect what they’re learning with their professional development.

Other opportunities include:

Clark is committed to action-based learning, which means as an undergraduate you can join faculty and graduate students in their research. Our faculty have expertise in the subfields of climate change, food studies, energy, environmental justice, urban environments, and development and environment, among others.

Participating in research complements classroom learning and lets you address real-world problems. You can pursue your own research interests under the direction of a faculty mentor, or collaborate on projects with faculty and graduate students. Summer fellowships are available for qualified students to participate in the Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) program, an intensive summer research effort focused on environmental change in New England.

You also can apply for funding to support your own research on a project of your choice during the academic year or during the summer.

Present your research

Clark’s annual Fall Fest and Academic Spree Day are opportunities to share your research or creative work with the Clark community while you hone your presentation skills. Some projects global environmental studies students and recent alumni have presented are:

• Achieving Food Security Through the Revitalization of the Cocoa Industry in Trinidad and Tobago
• Modeling the Impact of Juvenile Trees on Air Temperature in the Urban Microclimate of Chelsea, Massachusetts
• Coes Pond Water Quality Testing and Living Machine Prototype Development
• Global Recipes for Local Kitchens: Researching Traditional Recipes from Refugee Farmers at New Lands
• Fascination Turns to Exploitation: The Study of Human Domination over Elephants

You can also submit your research results for publication in our student-run Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal.

At Clark you’ll get more than a great education; you’ll also be prepared for a long, productive career and life of consequence. And once you’ve completed your degree, you can join other Clark alumni who have gone on to work for great organizations and attend some of the best graduate schools in the world.

Global environmental studies encourages critically informed, practical work with social, ecological, and political intent. Practice opportunities might include environmental law with a major nongovernmental organization, environmental art in a science center, climate justice campaigns, pollution research, or alternative technology design.

Graduate School Placement

Graduate schools attended by global environmental studies graduates from Clark include:

• Harvard University Graduate School of Design; MLA (landscape architecture)
• Clark University; M.S. in environmental science and policy
• Clark University; M.S. in geographic information science