We live and thrive through connection, embedded in vast networks of interdependence. How have those ecological systems been treated by human cultures and economies? How can we heal those relationships? What will it look like to build a society that is enduring and equitable? Who must we become? Who will lead us there?

Why study Environment & Sustainability at Sewanee?

The global ecological crisis will not be reversed using the same thinking that caused it. The world needs the next generation to think differently. By studying Environment and Sustainability at Sewanee, you'll be prepared to address complex environmental issues through a wide variety of careers. 

Because all human and ecological systems are interconnected, environmental issues cannot be studied in isolation. Policy, science, and economics are all involved. To understand root causes and viable solutions, we need the other disciplines too: history, religion, arts, languages, and leadership. Environmental studies is liberal arts.

Integrated knowledge and global thinking needs to be balanced with local immersion: deep and rich relationships within a particular place. Enter Sewanee’s Domain: 13,000 acres of forest, fields, bluffs and streams at your doorstep, all nested within a tight-knit local community of land stewards and regenerative farmers. What better place to study our place in the natural world? What better place to foster a lifelong dedication to the work of sustainability?

First destinations: Environment & Sustainability Majors

Sewanee graduates secure positions in a variety of fields. Some you would expect, others are a bit of a surprise. Sewanee prepares you for your profession and your passion. Below is a sampling of recent graduates' first jobs.

  • Research analyst, ICF International, Fairfax, Virginia.
  • Field engineer, John Moriarty and Associates, Boston, Massachusetts.
  • Reforestation and environmental educator, Peace Corps, Paraguay.
  • Princeton in Asia fellow, World Wildlife Fund, Bangkok, Thailand.
GRADUATE SCHOOL & PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS: ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY MAJORS

Sewanee graduates enjoy extraordinary acceptance rates to top graduate and pre-professional programs–about 95 percent to law school and over 85 percent to medical school. Below is a sampling of where Sewanee grads continue their education.

  • M.A. in earth & energy resources, University of Texas, Austin.
  • J.D., Tulane University Law School.
  • M.Sc. in ecological economics, University of Edinburgh.
  • M.A. in international environmental policy, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

A Sampling of Courses

Environmental Economics
Economics

A study of the causes of and solutions for pollution and environmental degradation weighs the value of ecosystems and their role in sustaining economic activity. Applies cost/benefit analysis to environmental issues and provides an introduction to economics of nonrenewable and renewable resources such as mines, forests, and fish.

ECON 335
Environmental Politics and Policy
Politics

The course explores the ideas that influence environmental thought, examines various environmental problems and suggested solutions, and critically evaluates the role that political institutions play in creating and enforcing environmental policy. Specific topics include environmental justice, environmental federalism, environmental health, and regulatory behavior. Not open to new first-year students.

POLS 313
Ecological Integrity in Agriculture
environmental studies

This course develops a critique of problems and solutions relating to agricultural technology, policy, and practice with a specific focus on ecology and ecological integrity. The course begins with a brief survey of agricultural history, through the era of modern food systems, with emphasis on the development of industrial agriculture. After evaluating the environmental impact of modern agriculture, the course addresses the foundations of sustainability, with specific reference to the ecology of sustainable agriculture. Field opportunities are provided for students to interact with local producers on their farms and to engage directly the ecological processes involved in food production on the Domain. 

ENST 305
Ecosystem Services
Environmental Studies

This course explores the myriad benefits that people derive from nature from an interdisciplinary perspective drawing on the natural and social sciences. In this course, students learn about the theory and measurement of ecosystem services through the peer-reviewed literature. Students will apply theory and skills in ecosystem service quantification to an engagement project with a community partner. 

ENST 306
Fundamentals of GIS
Environmental Studies

An introduction to the basic concepts and applications of geographic information systems (GIS). Topics include geographic data acquisition, data management, cartography, and methods of geospatial analysis. Laboratory exercises and projects focus on applications of GIS in understanding and managing the environment. Laboratory course.

ENST 217
Freshwater Conservation
Environmental Studies

A survey of existing and emerging threats to wetland ecosystems and the consequences for animal and human populations. This course discusses causes, consequences, and solutions for issues of international and local concern based on an understanding of freshwater ecology and function. Also considers multiple perspectives on water use and attempts to reconcile these differences so as to identify and publicize potential conservation solutions.

ENST 235
Marine Policy and Conservation
Environmental Studies

A survey of the policies that have shaped humanity’s relationship with marine resources coastal ecosystems throughout history and around the world. Using a case-study approach, this course critically evaluates how laws, treaties, and regulated markets interact with existing and emerging threats to the world’s oceans.

ENST 338
Equitable Environmental Education
Environmental Studies

A service-oriented exploration of environmental pedagogies, investigated through a critical lens that is dedicated to correcting historical barriers to access, opportunity, and belonging in nature for marginalized learners. Through readings, site visits, reflective writing, and self-designed lesson planning, students analyze educational models for developing environmental literacy, identity, and stewardship in learners of all ages in a wide range of contexts, from backcountry to rural county to inner city.

ENST 254
The Science of Sustainability
Environmental Science

In this course, students learn to carry out their own independent research on important issues in environmental management and sustainability. Meetings are focused upon hands-on practice in experimental design, field data collection, data management, basic coding, project management, grant proposal writing, and public speaking. Throughout those experiences, students gain foundational knowledge in the sciences of climate change, carbon sequestration, pollution, and environmental justice.

ESCI 220
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Environment & Sustainability

Programs of Study & Related Programs

Requirements for the Major in Environment & Sustainability | Advising Guide

Requirements for the Major in Environmental Arts & Humanities | Website

Requirements for the Minor in Environmental Studies | Website

Requirements for the Major & Minor in Forestry | Website

Requirements for the Major & Minor in Geology | Website

Requirements for the Major in Natural Resources & the Environment | Website

Requirements for the Minor in Religion & Environment | Website

Department of Earth and Environmental Systems

Meet some professors

Kristen Cecala
kkcecala@sewanee.edu

Kristen Cecala earned a B.S. from Davidson College and  Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. She studies aspects of the basic and applied ecology of aquatic organisms. Her specific interests lie in how environmental change alters the ecology and distribution of amphibians and reptiles through behavioral mechanisms.

Associate Professor of Biology, Co-Director Island Ecology Program
Aaron Elrod
aaelrod@sewanee.edu

Aaron Elrod received a B.A. from Centenary College of Louisiana and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The George Washington University. His primary field of specialization is environmental and natural resource economics, with secondary fields in public economics and industrial organization.

Associate Professor of Economics
Eric Ezell
ekezell@sewanee.edu

Eric Ezell earned a B.A. from the University of the South and a Ph.D. from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His research is in marine science and conservation is focused upon the following interrelated themes: (1) Strategies of foraging and habitat use in the world’s largest marine predators, (2) new methods in the monitoring and management of whale and seabird populations, (3) the conservation of endangered whales and seabirds within developing coastal areas, and (4) the oceanography of whale feeding habitat in temperate fjord systems

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Patrick Gauding
pjgaudin@sewanee.edu

Patrick Gauding earned a B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. His research and teaching interests focus on the interactions of legal and political institutions in adopting and reforming public policy at the state and local level.

Assistant Professor of Politics
Martin Knoll
mknoll@sewanee.edu

Martin Knoll earned a B.A. at the University of the South, an M.S. at Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D. at the University of Texas, El Paso. His areas of expertise include paleontology, paleoecology, hydrology, geoarchaeology of the Cumberland Plateau, and climbing.

Professor of Geology
Sara McIntyre
srmcinty@sewanee.edu

New to Sewanee and the position of Sustainability Coordinator in 2020, Sara has spent the past 15 years as a middle school Science teacher, sustainable farmer, and executive director of a Chattanooga nonprofit farm. Her B.A. in Biology from Carleton College and graduate work in Environmental Education at the Teton Science School in Kelly, WY have informed her passion for and career in teaching and engaging people in the natural world. 

Sustainability Coordinator
Deborah McGrath
dmcgrath@sewanee.edu

Deborah McGrath earned a B.A. at University of Wisconsin as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Florida. Her specialities include ecosystem and plant physiological ecology, biogeochemistry of land use, and environmental health. Dr. McGrath studies pharmaceuticals in treated wastewater and watershed streams, the effects of exurban development on water quality, and the impact of land-use change and plant invasion on ecosystem nutrient dynamics.

Professor of Biology and Assistant Dean Sewanee Integrated Program in the Environment
Chris Van de Ven
chvandev@sewanee.edu

Dr. Van de Ven teaches introductory and advanced courses on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), manages the Landscape Analysis Lab, and leads a variety of GIS projects with Sewanee students on the Domain and surrounding region. Chris is a geologist whose research interests are in the interactions between vegetation, geology, and topography.

GIS Instructor, Manager of the Landscape Analysis Lab
Keri Watson
klwatson@sewanee.edu

Keri Watson earned a B.S. from the University of the South, and a Ph.D. from the University of Vermont.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Systems
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Contact

keri watson
Associate professor of environmental studies

klwatson@sewanee.edu

Snowden Hall 216, Ext. 1116

eric ezell
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

ekezell@sewanee.edu

Snowden Hall 211A, Ext. 1966

News & Events

The Domain: An Immersive Experience

Integrated Program in the Environment
6 Majors, 6 Minors, 13,000 Acres

Sewanee's Integrated Program in the Environment is one of the premier collections of environmental offerings in the country. A working farm, a 13,000-acre forest, and well-funded internships offer opportunities to apply your classroom learning. An expansive curriculum—including natural and social sciences as well as the humanities and fine arts—offers students multiple pathways for gaining an understanding of the ecological complexity and wonder of the earth we inhabit.

Explore Your Options
Stewardship & Sustainability
Hands-on Experience

The Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability offers students myriad opportunities to engage with the outdoors. Whether your passions are natural resources management, food production, animal care, field research, or sustainability, there's a place for you to get your hands dirty on the Domain!

Get Involved
The University Farm
Where Growth Happens

The University Farm offers students a transformative experience through the immersive and intimate practice of restorative agriculture. At the farm you'll find many opportunities to enhance your education and connect with the history of agriculture. And if you’re lucky, there will be some baby goats around during finals.

Yes, I love baby goats