Professor points at a drawing titled 'Horses Chased by Wolves' alongside a photo of a man identified as Pop Chalee (Taos/Indian).
Professor Chie Sakakibara teaches the course Indigenous Environmentalism. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko
Program Overview

Environmental Studies

Program Type: Major, Minor
  • Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department: Environmental Studies

Oberlin offers both a major and a minor in environmental studies. Our program seeks to create a learning environment that fosters an understanding of the causes and consequences of our environmental predicaments, as well as help our students develop the creative problem-solving skills to design a more sustainable relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world.

Chair

Karl Offen Professor of Environmental Studies

Contact

440-775-8973

Engaged Liberal Arts

At Oberlin you’ll take what you’re learning in your courses and put it into practice through Research, Internships, Study Away, and Experiential Learning.

Engaged Liberal Arts“RISE” by Major
Four students sit together on the floor, working on a group project. Viewed looking down from above.
Students work in groups in the ENVS 302 American Agricultures course with Prof. Janet Fiskio. The course examines agrarian thinking and food justice movements in the United States through literature, essays, film, and field trips. Photo credit: Michael Hartman

Curriculum

Ours is an interdisciplinary program that investigates and considers solutions for various environmental challenges facing our world through critical thinking, community engagement, and skill development.

Browse Curriculum

Course Planning

Environmental studies majors select from a broad range of intermediate and advanced courses from many disciplines to develop a focused course of study. Majors are required to complete a curricular pathway: a course of study that equips an environmental studies major with a depth of knowledge, analytical skills, and experiences related to understanding and addressing a topic or subject area of special interest to that student.

Resources and Opportunities

When you major in environmental studies, you can take part in independent projects, research assistantships, study away opportunities, senior honors projects, and employment at the Adam Joseph Lewis Center. All of these opportunities will help you learn to synthesize information and apply your knowledge and skills to real problems.

Environmental Dashboard

The Environmental Dashboard project is an initiative designed to give Oberlin students and the community feedback on their consumption of resources. Real-time statistics are displayed on LCD screens on campus and around town as the dashboard monitors water and electricity consumption in campus buildings, schools, and businesses.

Our Innovative Building

The Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies (AJLC), which opened in 2000, helped to launch the green building movement of the 21st century. Throughout the building and landscape, 150 sensors monitor everything from electricity usage to soil moisture. A wetland called the Living Machine treats and recycles all wastewater using natural processes.

A group of students with shovels and buckets in a field. Some are standing and others are crouching, examining the soil.
George Jones Memorial Farm serves as an outdoor classroom for Oberlin students. With a focus on restoration agriculture, techniques used here help build soil and create healthier, more nutritious crops. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko

Where Fieldwork Is Really Fieldwork

Environmental studies majors have access to abundant resources on campus and beyond.

Community Partners & Experiential Learning

Sample Courses

  • ENVS 231 - Environmental Economics 4 credits
  • ENVS 323 - Seminar: Global Environmental Politics 4 credits
  • ENVS 340 - Systems Modeling: Systems Thinking 4 credits
  • ENVS 390 - Sustainable Cities 4 credits
Curriculum and requirements

Environmental Studies Faculty

  • Photo of Paul Brehm

    Paul Brehm

    Assistant Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies
  • Photo of Janet Fiskio

    Janet Fiskio

    Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Comparative American Studies
  • Man sitting against a desk in blue plaid shirt.

    Benjamin Hobbs

    AJLC Facilities Manager and Community Outreach Coordinator
  • Kip Grosvenor Hutchins.

    Kip Grosvenor Hutchins

    Visiting Instructor in Anthropology, East Asian Studies, and Environmental Studies
  • Roger Laushman in green plaid shirt.

    Roger Laushman

    Associate Professor of Biology and David Orr Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
  • Photo of Carl McDaniel

    Carl McDaniel

    Visiting Professor of Environmental Studies
  • portrait of Brad Melzer who wears glasses and had a tan sport coat and printed shirt.

    Brad Melzer

    Visiting Lecturer in Environmental Studies
  • Karl Offen

    Karl Offen

    Professor of Environmental Studies
  • Swapna Pathak in glasses and navy polka dot blouse.

    Swapna Pathak

    Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
  • portrait of smiling man standing and wearing a blue-gray button-down shirt.

    John Petersen ’88

    Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology
  • Photo of Chie Sakakibara

    Chie Sakakibara

    Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
  • Photo of Md Rumi Shammin

    Md Rumi Shammin

    Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

Affiliated Faculty

Cheryl Cottine

Assistant Professor of Religion

Matthew (Matt) Elrod

Robert and Eleanor Biggs Professor of Natural Science and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Cynthia (Cindy) Frantz

Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies

Roger Laushman

Associate Professor of Biology and David Orr Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

T. S. McMillin

Professor of English

Thomas (Tom) Newlin

Professor of Russian

Christie Parris

Assistant Professor of Sociology

Ann Sherif

Professor of Japanese
View all faculty

Environmental Studies News

A girl stands in an open window.

Winter Term: Butterflies, One of Nature’s Flashiest Pollinators

September 14, 2020
Mary Perchlik adores butterflies. That interest led to her month-long project in August, which combined the study of butterflies on a species level while maintaining a broader focus on environmental systems that support butterflies and their interactions between different plants, insects, and habitats.
back woman sitting on a chair.

Mental Health Research Assistant: Ify Ezimora ’19

May 15, 2020
Ezimora is applying the professional experience she gained as a double major in psychology and environmental studies as well as her roles as a student treasurer and cochair of the Student Finance Committee.
People working on a farm.

Oberlin Students Host Earth Day Symposium Online

May 12, 2020
The organizers of the Earth Day 50 celebration shifted their plans to make a 10-day symposium of speakers and panel discussions a virtual experience that appealed to a broad audience.
View all Environmental Studies news