Sustainability

The College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences provide students and faculty with a rich environment to tackle the multifaceted environmental crisis facing our planet. Arts & Sciences researchers—both students and faculty—take advantage of cutting-edge laboratories and interact with leading thinkers in the fields of geology, environmental science, biology, and other disciplines. Through collaborations with other schools at BU, our researchers generate new ideas and new solutions to environmental challenges.

Meanwhile, students, staff, and faculty all do their part to recycle, conserve paper and electricity, and further BU’s green mission.

Arts & Sciences students and faculty explore the full spectrum of environmental issues, from public policy to cutting-edge scientific research. Feel free to browse through our course offerings below, or check out BU’s innovative, environmentally focused study abroad opportunities, degree programs, and research groups.

Courses

For detailed course descriptions, refer to the University Class Schedule on StudentLink.

Study Abroad

Tropical Ecology Program in Ecuador

The Tropical Ecology Program (TEP) provides students with an opportunity to conduct field-based research and study in Ecuador. Operated in collaboration with La Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), the program is ideal for biology and environmental science majors interested in getting hands-on field research experience. TEP students travel from the capital city of Quito to the Pacific Coast, the Galapagos Islands, and the remote Amazonian rainforest.

Washington Internship Program

Through the Washington, DC, Internship Program, students live and work for a semester as interns in the policy-making atmosphere of the nation’s capital. Students take courses in policy-making that give them an insider’s look at how policies are formulated in the federal government. Internships with congressional committees, the executive branch, or nonprofit groups provide practical experience.

School for Field Studies

The School for Field Studies (SFS) conducts semester and summer programs in international environmental field study. Programs are conducted at international centers in Kenya, Costa Rica, Australia, Mexico, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Issues addressed by the School for Field Studies centers include Wildlife Ecology and Management, Sustainable Development, Tropical Rainforest Management, and Marine Resources Management.

Degree Programs

Department of Geography & Environment

Center for Energy & Environmental Studies

Department of International Relations

Department of Biology

Department of Earth Sciences

Boston University Marine Program (BUMP)

Environmental degree programs outside of CAS

University-Wide Research Collaborations

Research Groups at CAS

Climate & Vegetation Research Group

Department of Geography & Environment
Primary Investigator (PI): Ranga Myneni

Aeroecology

Center for Ecology & Conservation Biology
PI: Thomas Kunz

Bat Lab

Center for Ecology & Conservation Biology
PI: Thomas Kunz

MODIS Land Cover Group

Department of Geography & Environment and Center for Remote Sensing
PI: Mark Friedl

Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System

Department of Geography & Environment and Department of Biology
PIs: Suchi Gopal, Les Kaufmann

Climate & Earth History

Department of Earth Sciences

Energy & Carbon Metabolism of Boston

Department of Geography & Environment
PIs: Nathan Phillips, Lucy Hutyra

Regulated Community Compliance Project

Department of Geography & Environment
PIs: Richard Reibstein, Cutler Cleveland

Boston University Superfund Research Program

Department of Environmental Health
PI: David Ozonoff

How to Make a Bamboo Bike

World’s largest grass is stronger than you think

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