Environmental education is essential to solving many of the complex global challenges we face today.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) offers environmental degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. These programs span the life, physical, and social sciences, and allow you to explore our planet from many different perspectives.
Students in CLAS environmental degree programs:
UConn students who pursue CLAS environmental degree programs can meet the growing demand for skilled employees in the earth science and environmental sectors.
Our students train in classrooms, in laboratories, and in the field, helping them prepare for high-paying jobs where they can make a difference. Our graduate programs also prepare students to pursue professional certifications, like the Licensed Environmental Professional Program from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT-DEEP).
Earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from UConn.
Study the Earth’s present features and past evolution, and how to use this knowledge to benefit humankind. You’ll learn about climate change and adaptation; locating and protecting water, mineral, and energy resources; predicting geological hazards; paleontology; and landscape evolution.
Discover the diversity of life, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain it. Coursework spans ecology, evolution, animal biology (zoology), plant biology, and applications of these topics, including conservation biology, animal behavior, and environmental change.
Explore the living and nonliving parts of Earth that make up critical environmental systems – and learn how human activities impact these systems. You’ll take classes that help you understand the scientific principles that make the planet function, and how social factors underlie environmental issues locally and globally.
Investigate interactions between human societies and their environments. Study the geopolitics of climate change, the economics of renewables, and the social dimensions of biodiversity conservation. Develop the skills and perspective needed to protect environmental quality, public health, and social justice.
Dive deep into studying our oceans, the environment that covers two-thirds of the planet. You’ll not only take classes in topics like marine biology, chemistry, geology, and physics; you’ll also get your feet wet and your hands dirty through experiences at the coastal UConn Avery Point campus and many of the region’s marine habitats.