Environmental Studies & Sustainability Department
Environmental Studies & Sustainability
Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration
Drew University’s campus is known for its majestic old oak trees and beautiful natural areas, with fertile forest ecosystems, ponds, and glacial features. Several major initiatives help to preserve and restore ecological integrity to the Drew University Forest Preserve and to the entire campus.
Drew + Duke Combined Degrees
Get a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in just five years. Through our combined degree program, you earn a Bachelor of Arts at Drew and either a Master of Environmental Management or a Master of Forestry at Duke.
Real research. Real rewards.
At Drew, you can have the kinds of real-world lab research experiences that most students won’t get until attending graduate school or working in the professional world.
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Drew University offers nationally recognized, cross-disciplinary programs of study in the environmental sciences and in environmental studies and sustainability. Our curriculum integrates the sciences with the social sciences, humanities, and the arts, and exemplifies Drew University’s academic and community identity.
Supported by a generous grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, our program offers both a BS in Environmental Science and a BA in Environmental Studies and Sustainability, which are unique in their emphasis on our local ecology, cultures, and collaborative practices. The BS in Environmental Science provides students a solid grounding in environmental science, as students take courses across science disciplines with a focus on environmental problems. The BA in Environmental Studies and Sustainability provides students with an understanding of environmental issues from a range of perspectives across disciplines.
Internships and research experiences prepare graduates for careers in environmental advocacy, education, consulting and science.
“It really started me thinking about what kind of work I would like to do and what change I would like to see come out of it. It made me realize how important the work really is”
Matt Boudreaux C’13
on Peak Oil and Climate Change
Latest News
Two Drew University Alums Serve as Americorps Watershed Ambassadors
Nov 18, 2024
Recent grads Jessie Lisanti and Daniel Magda take lessons, passions from Drew into the real world
Drew University Named to The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges 2025 List
Oct 24, 2024
Earned high scores for sustainability-conscious programs, policies
Drew University Class of 2024 Outcomes: Michelle Lombardi C’24
May 9, 2024
Pursuing a Masters in Organic Agriculture a the University of Hohenheim (Germany)
Drew University Class of 2024 Outcomes: Rachel Sirica C’24
May 6, 2024
May 2024 – As Drew University’s 2024...
Drew University Celebrates Earth Week
Apr 26, 2024
A student-organized mission towards sustainability and environmentalism
Saffet Catovic T’18 Makes Significant Impact on Islamic Environmentalism
Apr 25, 2024
The Imam and DMin candidate shares his groundbreaking global work
Highlights of Studying ESS at Drew:
Research With Professors
- Fish advisories and environmental justice in Alaska
- Asthma in Newark, NJ, an environmental justice community
- Diesel exhaust measurement and analysis in Newark NJ
- Photochemical oxidation of asphaltenes
- Photochemical reactions of atmospheric pollutants with humic substances
- Photochemistry of humic acid with nitrogen dioxide
- Chemistry of biomass combustion products adsorbed on atmospheric aerosols
- Ozonolysis of catechol vs. methylcatechols: theory & experiment
- Dynamics and demography of invasive Norway maple tree populations
- Impacts of deer and invasive vines on forest structure and dynamics
- Mammalian wildlife research: effects of deer on other animal populations
- Interspecies communication in primates of Peru
- Development of a bioassay for PCBs
- GIS (computer mapping and spatial analysis) of air pollution sources in Newark, NJ [This project helped stop a planned incinerator facility in an environmental justice community already experiencing high rates of child asthma]
- GIS and spatial analysis of invasive marine species
- Environmental sources and impacts of theater scene shop materials
- Sustainability and the land in Ecuador: reforestation, sustainable agriculture, archaeology
Students should speak with professors whose work interests them to explore research possibilities. Prior coursework in the field of investigation is expected.
Study Abroad
Environmental studies students are encouraged to study abroad for a summer or semester; course credit toward environmental studies can often be arranged. The Center for Global Education at Drew can help you search for opportunities that are right for you. Past students have participated in the following programs with high relevance to environmental studies and sustainability:
- Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica and other locations
- School for International Training, Tanzania, Botswana and other locations
- School for Field Studies: Australia, Kenya, Costa Rica and other locations
Internships & Scholarships
SIGN UP FOR THE ESS MAILING LIST
Internship opportunities and scholarships (as well as course offerings, events, jobs and research projects!) are posted regularly on Drew’s ESS Program Moodle group. Contact any faculty in the ESS program to enroll as a participant in the ESS Moodle Site. Enrolling in the site will give you notices of site updates and events by email.
ACADEMIC INTERNSHIPS
Most ESS students meet their experiential requirement through academic internships, taken for credit during the summer or the academic year. Other interested students are urged to pursue environmental internships as well. To locate opportunities, read guidelines, and arrange academic credit, contact Drew’s Internships and Career Development, which provides access for Drew students to an extensive data base of internships.
STIPEND SUPPORT FOR UNPAID ACADEMIC INTERNSHIPS AND SUMMER EXPERIENCES
Every year, Drew offers several grants to help our students with costs of unpaid (or low-paying) summer experiences related to environmental studies or field biology. Some other summer activities such as research and summer courses abroad may also be eligible for support. These grants are available to all students with internships in these fields, not just ESS students!
- Drew Environmental Studies & Sustainability (ESS) Internship Awards
Through grants to Drew from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and NASA, we offer awards of up to $3000 to support summer internships or research related to environmental sustainability. Priority is given to ESS majors or minors, but students with other majors are also eligible. - Helen Fenske Internship Award
$500 to support a summer internship related to environmental policy or environmental protection. Priority is given to students majoring or minoring in ESS, political science, or biology. - Woods Hole/Field Station Scholarship
Two $700 scholarships for students taking ecological field courses or undertaking other field-oriented experiences this summer. Not available for seniors because these scholarships take the form of tuition remission the next semester. Available to students of biology, neuroscience, anthropology, and environmental studies, with the background coursework necessary for participating in the field course.
Environmental Justice and the Common Good
Drew offers courses, events, and research opportunities relevant to today’s efforts to redress inequitable distributions of environmental burdens and to ensure all people have safe food, water to drink, and air to breathe. Drew’s environmental justice projects include GIS mapping of air pollution sources and demographic patterns in New Jersey; toxic chemical analysis for EJ communities; and community impacts of mountaintop removal mining, studied during an alternative spring break to Kentucky.
Student Groups
Drew students are deeply engaged outside the classroom in a number of groups.
Outcomes
ESS majors are already getting to work and to grad school. Here is a sampling of where some of our recent graduates are up to:
• Research Assistant in Ecuador for Stony Brook University
• Sustainability Advocate at Clean Water Action
• Science Teacher, Teach for America