Program Overview
Environmental Studies at Lawrence explores the complex relationships among people, communities, and the natural world. Drawing on the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, students examine pressing challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainability, and environmental justice. Through hands-on research, fieldwork, internships, off-campus study, community engagement, and close collaboration with faculty, students develop the knowledge and skills to analyze environmental problems and create meaningful solutions. Graduates are prepared for advanced study and careers in environmental policy, conservation, sustainability, education, advocacy, research, and related fields.
From geoscience and biology, to English and History, to government and economics, the way we live and where we live are in conversation in our environmental studies program. You’ll engage with values and concepts like community and justice as you ask and answer big questions about the environment. Using your innovation and creativity, delve into complex problems using skills from a wide range of subjects including science, art, and philosophy. From collective action to the policy process, shine your light on the solutions of tomorrow.
Program Highlights
Connect Ideas Across Disciplines
Explore environmental questions through the humanities, public policy, and the natural sciences.
Put Your Learning into Practice
Gain hands-on experience beyond the classroom through partnerships with local tribes, Milwaukee nonprofits, and other community organizations.
Shape a Path Around Your Interests
Tailor your studies around the issues that matter most to you, from climate change and environmental justice to sustainable agriculture and cities.
Spotlight
LAWRENTIAN SPOTLIGHT
Alumni Perspective
“The interdisciplinary approach totally informs what I do. I know the experience at Lawrence was definitely influential in all this. I was tired of seeing science on one side, arts on another side. That tends to happen in our curriculum in Ghana. Seeing the liberal arts at work at Lawrence, I knew it could be better here.”
Natalie Fordwor ’12, Founder at WonderspacED
Environmental Studies
Kumasi, Ghana
Types of Degrees
Students can pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies, with options to focus on and blend humanistic, social science, policy, and natural science studies to investigate topics such as climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice across disciplines.
Advising
At Lawrence, academic advising helps you shape an educational experience that reflects your interests, goals, and aspirations. Your faculty advisor will support you as you plan your path, connect with campus resources and communities, and make informed decisions that prepare you for a meaningful and fulfilling future.
Get Started
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Faculty
Engage deeply and collaboratively with professors who are experts in their field and committed to supporting your education.
Chairs
Andrew Knudsen
Professor of Geosciences
Interests: environmental mineralogy, low-temperature geochemistry
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Alyssa S. Hakes (she/her)
Associate Professor of Biology
I am an ecologist who studies plant-insect interactions. I am interested in the factors that influence the amount of damage plants receive from insects. My lab has explored plant-herbivore interactions…
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Andrew Knudsen
Professor of Geosciences
Interests: environmental mineralogy, low-temperature geochemistry
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Claire E. Kervin (she/her)
Adjunct Associate Professor of English and Director of Fellowships Advising
As a faculty member, I teach courses in the English and Environmental Studies departments on topics including unreliable narrators, multiethnic literature, and environmental justice. My research interests center on modern…
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Claudena Skran (she/her)
Edwin & Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science and Professor of Government
Claudena Skran is Director of the Business & Entrepreneurship program and Professor of Government and the Edwin and Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science.As a the Director of…
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David Gerard (He, him, his)
John R. Kimberly Distinguished Professor of the American Economic System and Associate Professor of Economics
I am the John R. Kimberly Distinguished Professor in the Department of Economics. A number of my courses are cross-listed in Environmental Studies, Government, Business, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship. My…
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Deanna L. Donohoue (she/her)
Associate Professor of Chemistry
deanna.l.donohoue@lawrence.edu
Her research has included work on the gas phase oxidation of mercury in the atmosphere, halogen chemistry of the arctic and the use of remote sensing, and the impacts of…
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Gregory Joel Hitch (He/Him)
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Gregory Hitch received his Ph.D. from Brown University in 2022, served as the Jill Beck NEH Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities in the Department of Ethnic Studies at Lawrence University…
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