State University of New York at Oneonta
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

SUNY Oneonta's interdisciplinary major in Environmental Sustainability will prepare students to collaboratively and creatively develop solutions to the pressing challenges the world faces in dealing with global climate change, loss of biodiversity, resource consumption and depletion, toxic pollutants and water shortages. You'll also learn about issues related to environmental justice and creating sustainable cities and sustainable food and transportation systems.

Experiential learning is a key part of the program, and it is incorporated into many courses. For example, faculty from the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability have taken students to Guatemala, where they worked with the local community to develop sustainable ways to improve the water quality in an ailing lake, and to New Orleans, where they helped with a wetlands restoration project in the Lower 9th Ward. Most recently, an applied learning course to South Carolina is being offered following the conclusion of the Spring 2022 semester. This opportunity is geared around the exploration and analysis of geographic and environmental features that persist throughout this region, while additionally acting as an ideal outing for students to apply their knowledge in real time.

Environmental sustainability majors are required to take at least three semester hours of environmentally-themed study abroad, research with a faculty member, service learning or an internship.

SUNY Oneonta’s geography program has three tracks: General Geography, Geographic Information Systems, and Urban and Regional Planning. Our mission is to give students a well-rounded perspective of geographic knowledge and skills that will prepare them to interpret social, physical and environmental influences at local, regional and global scales. We enable our students to become globally capable and environmentally aware. Our interdisciplinary program prepares students for career opportunities in areas such as environmental management, education, disaster response, city and county planning, community development, and many more.

Requires Students to take the following classes: Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Issues, Environmental Monitoring, Physical Geography of Global Environments, Environment Planning, and one other Geography course ranging in topics from tourism, to population. Student must maintain a 2.0 GPA in the classes to receive the minor qualification.

This minor acts as a pathway for students that desire to further develop their skillset within the science of Geographic Information Systems. Course requirements will include basic geographic principles, cartography, remote sensing, and both introductory and advanced GIS sections focusing on the use of ArcMap. Any student enrolled must maintain a 2.0 GPA and no more than two courses can overlap between/among all majors/minors.

The Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department wants to educate Oneonta students about the science of climate through this new minor starting Fall 2022. Intertwining coursework within the Geography, Meteorology, & Mathematics Departments, this new program provides students with a wholistic approach to better understand the changes Earth is, and will, experience going forward.