University of Massachusetts Boston
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

The School for the Environment is a nationally recognized Environmental Studies and Sustainability program that emphasizes solutions integrating the humanities and social sciences with economics and business. As environmental and sustainability advocates, students customize their course of study, drawing from such diverse fields as anthropology, law, history, management, economics, and the sciences. In addition to coursework, this hands-on degree incorporates internships, research, cooperative education, and capstone course experiences in which students work as members of a multi-disciplinary team partnered with agencies and organizations throughout the Boston metropolitan area.

The learning objectives for this program include the following;
"1. Students will understand key sustainability concepts and become practiced at applying these principles to real-world problems.
2. Students will be able to use interdisciplinary and collaborative decision-making processes to devise practical solutions for managing environmental problems.
3. Students will be able to analyze and critique sustainability issues balancing multiple disciplinary perspectives and research approaches (e.g., social, ecological, ethical, philosophical, political, and economic).
4. Students will demonstrate analytical proficiencies, both quantitative and qualitative, to support data-driven decisions.
Students will understand the system interactions and feedback between human activities, social institutions, and the natural environment.
5. Students will be experienced in communicating their learnings both in writing, visually, and orally, and for specific and general audiences."

Community development is a multi-disciplinary field based in the social sciences. In UMass Boston's Community Development program, students can customize their focus of study, drawing on a breadth of disciplines to focus on issues at the intersection of the environment and economic development, community health, and planning.

UMass Boston’s Sustainable Marine Aquaculture Certificate focuses on preparing you to successfully address key issues and challenges facing the aquaculture industry to ensure sustained growth. It’s designed for professionals already working in the field, students who are looking to gain additional industry expertise, and individuals trying to break into the aquaculture industry who want to hone their skills and add a certification to their résumé. Learn the business of aquaculture — the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, plants, algae, and other organisms in all aquatic environments — and explore ways to make this growing and rapidly expanding industry more sustainable. With an Aquaculture Certificate, you can work in both the private and commercial sectors as an oyster farmer, seaweed cultivator, or processor, or you could work on a fish farm as a technician, general worker, scientist, engineer, or manager. You could also work for a regulatory agency working towards maintaining healthy sustainable practices. If you’re trying to break into the growing and rapidly expanding aquaculture industry, you’re already working in the field, or you are a student looking to add additional expertise to your résumé, sign up to take a course or to declare the certificate program. We offer courses and certificates for academic credit and for continuing education credits. Taking an aquaculture class could also help you secure an internship working outdoors and on the oceans. All courses in UMass Boston’s Sustainable Marine Aquaculture program are open to the UMass Boston community, as well as students from other universities and the public. Our goal is to provide a flexible and accessible introduction to this emerging field and so offer a variety of options to suit your individual needs.

The School for the Environment webpage describes this minor as follows;
"Clean energy is rapidly becoming one of the fastest growing sectors of the US and global economy. With the goal that these new sources provide sustainable, dependable, and clean fuel for our current and future needs, there is enormous pressure on the industry to thrive and for it to do so while sustainably using natural resources and have a positive impact on the ecosystems on which we depend. If you’re interested in how clean energy technology impacts the bottom-line, if you want to understand how policies impact the development and use of clean energy this program is for you."

This minor includes course content such as environmental problems, renewables, natural resources, sustainable development, energy law and policy, energy management, and an internship credit opportunity.