About
The UCSC Environmental Sciences (ESCI) major is an interdepartmental, undergraduate-only degree program. The purpose of the ESCI major is to educate students interested in environmental science problems and issues, with a focus on issues within the physical sciences (versus focusing on biological sciences). The ESCI major will teach undergraduates how to apply fundamental concepts of chemistry, physics, and math to environmental problems. The major specializes primarily in the following areas of study:
- Climate and climate change: Earth’s past, present, and future climate
- Global biogeochemical cycles: Cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, mercury, etc.
- Fresh Water: Water resources and water quality
- Pollution: Water pollution, air pollution, pollutant transport
- Oceans: Physical, chemical, and biological oceanography
- Atmosphere: Meteorology, air quality, and atmospheric chemistry
- Coastal: Geology, coastal crisis, sea level change
- Environmental Data Science: Applied environmental time series analysis, geophysical data science, statistics and data analysis, scientific programming
Courses in other areas are also available. The core faculty of the major are primarily from two departments, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Ocean Sciences. Faculty from other departments such as Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Environmental Studies may also be involved.
In addition to providing comprehensive preparation in the basic physical sciences, and particular breadth and depth in environmental sciences, the curriculum is structured to prepare students for the competitive graduate school and career marketplace. The core of the major includes calculus, physics, chemistry, and core foundational upper-division environmental sciences courses.
Graduates of the ESCI major will be prepared to continue on to a variety of careers, such as:
- Graduate/professional school in areas such as science, engineering, teaching, law, public health, business
- Business and industry
- Environmental consulting
- Governmental agencies at the federal, state, and local levels
- Non-profit organizations
- Research at universities, governmental research institutions, or other scientific agencies