Environmental College to Debut New Major

A new major in the College of Natural Resources is being launched this semester with the goal of integrating social and environmental sciences.

The new major, which is called Society and Environment, was approved by the university in May and officially opened for enrollment in July, said major adviser Shandrika Combs.

The major will be offered alongside the three already existing majors in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management within the College of Natural Resources.

Students in the major will study the application of social science theories to environmental problems, said Lynn Huntsinger, a professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management who currently teaches a class about the social implications of forest resource management.

"For example, we're not going to solve the global warming issue without dealing with politics and understanding economies," she said.

The major includes three concentrations: U.S. Environmental Policy and Management, Global Environmental Politics, and Environmental Justice and Development, Combs said.

Since it opened for enrollment in July, 10 students have declared a Society and Environment major and nine more are expected to declare this fall, Combs said.

Student demand and faculty interest both played a role in the creation of the major, Huntsinger said.

"The idea had been kicked around for a long time," she said. "We felt we weren't meeting the needs of students (in the department) more interested in the social sciences."

Huntsinger said the major will particularly help prepare students for work in at a nonprofit organization to fix environmental problems.

"Not only would they have the social science skills, but they would understand the biological dimensions," she said. "We need people like that in the world."

Huntsinger said there is also considerable room in government sectors for those with knowledge about environmental management.

Creating the major was complicated and took approximately two years, said Sally Fairfax, the associate dean of instruction and student affairs in the College of Natural Resources.

"It was an arduous process," she said. "Stopping things at Berkeley is easy, pushing things through is not."

Proponents of the major had to prove that no other major on campus already integrated the same subjects and that faculty and resources existed to support the program, Huntsinger said.

The idea was well received by committees at the university level, she said.

"The Office of the President actually said it was one of the best examples they'd ever seen of a proposed major," Huntsinger said.

Not only were many students within the department interested in social sciences, an overall increase in enrollment in the College of Natural Resources led to the creation of the new major, Fairfax said.

"As global warming heats up as an issue, and people start to realize that their survival is at stake, I think the college will become more popular," she said.

The new major offers an opportunity for students and staff in the department to tackle new approaches to environmental science, she said.

"It's always good to have new combinations of people and ideas that are fresh and engaging," she said.

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