The Program in Environmental Studies is open to all A.B. and B.S.E. students. Students should submit an application for admission during the sophomore or junior year and will be accepted into the program on the basis of interest and a coherent academic plan. Students should plan a tentative course of study as early as possible, and consultation with the program director is recommended even for entering freshmen.

Interested students should take Environmental Studies 201 or 202 as early as possible.

Certificate of Proficiency
Students who have met the requirements of the program and of their department will receive a certificate of proficiency in environmental studies upon graduation.

Program of Study
The following requirements are in addition to those of a student’s department of concentration. By appropriate choice of courses, several of these requirements may satisfy both the program and concentration, as well as University distribution requirements. All courses taken in fulfillment of the certificate requirements must be taken on a fully graded basis.

1. Students must take one core course, either Environmental Studies 201 and 202. Under exceptional circumstances, substitutes may be allowed, but any substitution must be approved in advance by the program director. For students who do not have a strong science background, the laboratory options for ENV 201 and 202 are recommended (although not required for the certificate). These courses satisfy the University’s distribution requirement for laboratory science (ST).

2. Students must take four ENV cross-listed and/or cognate courses. Three of these courses must be from three different divisions of the University (that is, natural science, engineering, social science, and humanities) and they should be at the 300 level or above. The fourth course may be any ENV course (including 200-level courses) or any cognate course with a significant environmental component (normally at the 300 level). The choice of cognate courses (i.e., courses that do not carry an ENV number) must be approved by the program director. Students are encouraged to discuss cognate choices with the program director early in their planning process.

3. Seniors must participate in the senior thesis colloquium.

4. Independent work the senior year will normally involve an environmental topic approved by both the director of the program and the undergraduate representative of the student’s department of concentration. The environmental content of the senior thesis will be reviewed as part of the senior thesis colloquium.

Cognate Courses

Humanities Cognates
These include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as art and archaeology, English, and philosophy, as well as the School of Architecture and the Environmental Studies Program. Examples include: ARC 304: The Historical Development of Urban Form; ARC 406/ENV406: Energy and Form; ART 332:The Landscape of Allusion: Garden and Landscape Architecture, 1450-1750; EAS 313: The Ecological Works of Japanese Culture; ENG 373/ENV 373: Forms of Nonfiction; ENG 380: Literature and Environment; and ENV 402: Environmental History: Darwin in our Time.

Social Science Cognates
These include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as anthropology, economics, history, politics, and the Woodrow Wilson School, as well as the Environmental Studies Program. Examples include: ECO 329/ENV 319: Environmental Economics; ECO 339/SOC 351: Introduction to Population Problems ENV 306: Environmental Law and Moot Court; GEO 322/ENV 322: Biogeochemical Cycles and Global Change; GEO 339/ENV 339: Climate Change; GEO 399/ENV 399: Environmental Decision Making; HIS 374: History of the American West; WWS 304: Science, Technology, and Public Policy; WWS 305/ENV 355: Geographyt and Public Affairs; and WWS 475/ENV 475: Global Environmental Issues.

Natural Science Cognates
These include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as chemistry, ecology and evolutionary biology, geosciences, physics, and molecular biology. Examples include: CHM 333: Oil to Ozone-Chemistry of the Environment; EEB 321: Introduction to Population and Community Ecology; GEO 419/PHY 419:The Earth as a Physical System; and GEO 425/MAE 425: Introduction to Physical Oceanography.

Engineering Cognates
These include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as civil and environmental engineering, chemical engineering, and mechanical and aerospace engineering. Examples include: CEE 303:Introduction to Environmental Engineering; CEE 264/ENV 264: Water for the World; CHE 446: Atmospheric Technology and MAE 319: Topics in Energy Conversion and Resources; MAE 328/ENV 328: Energy for a Greenhouse Constrained World.

Senior Thesis Colloquium (Fall, Spring)
The colloquium is noncredit, but regular participation is required of seniors in the program. Supplements the advice that students get in their own departments by exposing initial ideas and subsequent results to critique by students and faculty from other department. Faculty lead discussions until the middle of fall term. Students present their plans and results from midfall through midspring term. Weekly meetings as needed.

Senior Thesis Research Funds
PEI sponsors several competitive senior thesis research funds to which undergraduates may apply for support for travel, research and supplies for field work and research on an environmental topic in the U.S. and abroad. Students usually apply for funds during the spring semester of their junior year for senior thesis research during the summer. Requests may also be made in the fall of the senior year.

Environmental Studies Prizes
The Peter W. Stroh ’51 Environmental Senior Thesis Prize
The Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) awards The Peter W. Stroh ’51 Environmental Senior Thesis Prize” annually to the senior from any department who has written the best thesis on an environmental topic. Each spring, departments are invited to nominate one senior thesis that examines an important environmental issue.

The prize of $1000 was established in 2003 as a memorial to Peter W. Stroh ’51, an active member of PEI’s Advisory Council and an enthusiastic supporter of the Environmental Studies Program.

ENV Senior Thesis Prize
A prize of $500.00 is awarded to the senior who has written the best thesis in the broad area of Environmental Studies. Students in the Program are nominated by their departmental thesis advisor.

Environmental Leadership Prize
A prize of $500.00 is awarded to a senior in the program who shows unusual dedication to environmental concerns, not only in formal classes and independent academic work, but also by leading and encouraging other activities among fellow students and in the community at large. Students nominate their peers.