CMU's nationally ranked Environmental Science program is based on a rigorous science-based curriculum with an emphasis on applied, problem-solving skills. Our stand-alone program has its own dedicated faculty, curriculum, and facilities. Class sizes are small (10-35 students), creating strong connections between students and faculty.
We also offer students:
Exceptional field-based learning.
Taking advantage of our extraordinary natural surroundings, we offer students roughly 60 unique field trips. Students gain hands-on experience collecting field data from aquatic, riparian, desert, forest, and subalpine ecosystems.
Senior Capstone Projects.
During their senior year, students gain real-world experience working to solve an environmental problem for a real client (a federal, state, county agency or a local nonprofit). After spending a full semester designing and completing these projects, students hone their professional skills giving formal presentations to their clients.
Summer internships.
We have formal agreements with U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to offer CMU students paid internships during the summer. Besides these formal partnerships, we have strong ties to dozens of other agencies (federal, state, county, and city), private consulting firms, and nonprofits where students can gain professional experience through paid internships.
Student-faculty research.
Unlike larger universities, CMU undergraduates do not compete with graduate students for research opportunities with faculty. Student researchers earn course credit for engaging in research and presenting their findings at CMU’s annual Student Showcase.
High job placement rates with excellent future job outlook.
More than 90% of our alumni have success finding careers in environmental science. Jobs in this field are expanding as cities and states work to enhance community and ecosystem resilience to human-caused stressors. Here are some alumni highlights.
Facilities
The Environmental Science Lab is located in WS245 with Environmental Projects labs adjacent to it. We have state-of-the-art equipment for environmental testing. In addition, our students are in the field very often so we have field sampling equipment, including equipment for sampling and measuring water quality, plant physiology and community characteristics and soil chemical, physical and biological properties. There is also a separate lab in the building for GIS projects and classes.
A major strength of our program is the unique access to various field sites, including the Colorado National Monument, BLM land, USFS land on the Grand Mesa and Uncompaghre Plateau, and the Colorado, Gunnison and Yampa Rivers. These areas give us access to rangelands, forests, wetlands, streams, lakes, ponds, threatened and rare species, and restoration areas such as abandoned gravel, uranium and coal mines.