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SALT LAKE CITY -- Westminster College has had an environmental studies program from before it was cool to talk about global warming.
Program Chair Jeff McCarthy says the minor has been around for 15 years. He says six years ago there were a handful of students in the minor, now there are 60 students majoring in Environmental Studies, which has made it one of the most popular majors on this campus of about 2,000 students. But McCarthy says they aren't just raising a bunch of rah-rah activists.
"The approach is very hands on and experiential, but it's also solution-based," said McCarthy. "We not only engage students with difficult environmental questions, but we also talk to them about how to solve those problems."
The Obama Administration estimates that energy and environmental-related jobs will grow 52 percent from 2000 through 2016. McCarthy sees the demand in the amount of internships his students are being offered. He says students are getting jobs too, in everything from politics to business.
"We have students at Kennecott Copper, and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance," points out McCarthy. "Some have worked in Mayor Peter Corroon's office, and others for small businesses in the community."
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education estimates that nationwide, more than 100 majors, minors or certificates were added just this year in energy and sustainability-focused programs. That's up from three programs added in 2005.
In Utah:
- The University of Utah has a new Office of Sustainability, and an Environmental Studies Program, which has been around since 1994 as a major. Right now 185 to 200 students are majoring in the program.
- Biology is the 5th most popular major at Brigham Young University with 643 students right now. Faculty has noticed an increased interest in climate science and diversity of ecosystems, which happens across the biology and geology departments.
- Utah Valley University is part of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium. They make bio-fuels in class. They also have the Capitol Reef Field Station, an Environmental Studies Program and Environmental management Degree, and a Certificate in water and wastewater operations.
- Utah State University has a new Sustainability program, which offers 32 majors and nine minors and offers 60 courses that deal with a variety of sustainability issues. Utah State was the first university in the state to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.
- Weber State University has a first-of-its-kind graduate curriculum in Utah targeting environmental sustainability for businesses. It's part of the MBA program and according to Weber State. "The curriculum requires students to take four courses -- ethics, business practices, accounting and finance, and economics -- that include a sustainability focus," the university said in a press release. "Students also are required to complete a consulting project in sustainability for a local business." The professors that started this were named "Green Pioneers" by Utah Business Magazine on Oct. 22 in Salt Lake City.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
