Students will need to be able to think from a systems perspective in order to comprehend complex patterns in local and global situations. A good ecological education should equip a person to live well within a place, helping students become aware and contributing inhabitants in their home regions. The Environmental Program Established in 1972, this university-wide program was one of the first in the country to offer environmental studies courses. It now serves more than 300 majors across all four of the undergraduate colleges. Students choose areas of concentration and design an individual academic plan within the major, focusing on such diverse interests as environmental law and policy, international development, environmental education, ecofeminism, and land conservation.
Many students participate in internships or projects on campus and in the community.
Others spend a semester overseas, usually south of the equator, where the everyday realities of poverty, health, safe water and safe food form a powerful learning context. Like other environmental programs in the U.S., UVM's program emphasizes ecological and social sciences as prerequisites for understanding global problems. The program also highlights international studies, values-based inquiry, and advocacy as critical to current issues. School of Natural Resources Founded in 1972, this school is oriented to understanding and enhancing the health of the environment. The school enrolls more than 500 undergraduates and 70 graduate students in majors such as Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, Recreation Management, Resource Economics, Forestry, Natural Resources, and Environmental Science.