Environmental Studies Programs on the
Olympic/Kitsap Peninsulas
A Growing Demand for Sustainable Environments
Prepare for a creative, fulfilling career in environmental studies, a field focused on the environmental well-being of the planet. Earn your bachelor's degree in environmental studies while studying and living in the diverse and exciting Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas and Puget Sound region. Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment offers you two degree paths on the Peninsulas:
Huxley College of the Environment
Since its establishment in 1968, Western's Huxley College of the Environment has won national and international recognition, owing to its comprehensive upper division and graduate programs. Huxley's programs at Peninsula and Olympic colleges utilize Western's distance-learning technology, as well as field education opportunities focused on the Peninsulas' region.
Relevant Learning and Practical Experience
One of the hallmarks of Huxley is the integration of senior research projects and internships into the academic experience. Gain practical experience through internships that give you the opportunity to work on environmental issues in real-world situations. Internships for the program students have been provided by organizations such as Olympic National Park, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon Society, Clallam County, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, U.S. Soil Conservation Services, Battelle Marine Science Laboratory, and Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
Bachelor of Arts: Planning and Environmental Policy
The environmental policy program provides you with the knowledge and skills to understand environmental processes and to assess the nature and extent of contemporary environmental problems. The major offers electives to retain the program's emphasis on the environmental policy track of the Planning and Environmental Policy major. It examines the scientific and policy implications of sustainable development and the management of watersheds, both as ecosystems and as socioeconomic systems critical to humans. The major provides you with the academic background and skills for a variety of employment opportunities in environmental analysis, assessment, and monitoring, and administration.
Bachelor of Science: Environmental Science
The Environmental Science Program builds upon a substantial background in science and mathematics obtained through required lower-division prerequisite courses.
The knowledge of how natural systems work is applied to solving problems largely created by human activities. Often these problems are represented by disturbances in the functioning of natural systems. Humans are altering their own life-support systems-the air, water, and soil. Scales of disturbances range from the molecular and cellular to individuals, populations, ecosystems, and regional and global levels. Graduates in environmental science enter a wide variety of career paths in local, state, and federal governments, universities and the private sector. Fields include environmental toxicology, environmental impact assessment, watershed management, air pollution control, solid and hazardous waste management, and marine pollution assessment.
A program that meets your needs
The environmental studies programs on the Peninsulas meet the needs of working adults by offering evening and weekend classes. Those who attend full-time are likely to complete the upper-division program within two years.