Environmental Science
Offered by the Biology, Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy departments.

Science-minded global citizens flourish in fields like conservation, forestry, community planning, wildlife protection, natural resources management, and environmental policy. Discover the challenges facing planet Earth—and ways to address them—with a major in environmental science. Our students explore woodlands and wetlands near campus, immerse themselves in climate research, and take their studies abroad—or aboard, if marine ecology is calling. Intern at a national park, aquarium, or with the EPA, and apply for a fellowship to fund your travel or research. Dive deeper into an area of interest with a concentration in biology, chemistry, or geoscience.

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Programs

Outcomes

96% of Environmental Science majors from the past five years have found employment or achieved a fellowship or service opportunity within six months of graduation *

96%
of Environmental Science majors

Recent Graduates

Sample First Jobs

  • Biological Science Technician, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Chemistry Technician, Smithers Viscient
  • Environmental Scientist, Tyree Environmental
  • Senior Laboratory Technician, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
  • Service Technician, Novartis

*outcomes data is based on a knowledge rate of 67% for the classes of 2014-2018

Recent student internships

The Wheaton Edge offers experiences beyond the classroom.

Dylan Marat

2020, Environmental Science

Martha Van Cott Singdahlsen '57 Wheaton Fund Career Exploration Fund

Massachusetts Audubon Society, Welfleet, MA

This internship allowed me to use skills that I have learned in my environmental science classes in the field. Practicing these skills will be very important for the work I would like to do after college.

Melissa Jernakoff

2021, Environmental Science

Davis International Fellowship

Wheaton College Biology Department, Fieldwork with Professor Jessie Knowlton, Cuenca, Ecuador

This experience gave me a chance to practice the skills that I learned in the classroom and need for a future career, while working on a research project out in the field.

Sydney Evans

2021, Creative Writing, Environmental Science

Wheaton Edge Fellowship

Wheaton College, Norton, MA

I worked in a research lab environment and immersed myself in scientific data pertaining to geology and planetary science. I learned to use new software and gained digital editing skills that will help me if I continue working with figure-making and scientific publishing.

Michael Daring

2020, Environmental Science

NICE Internship Fund

Land Preservation Society of Norton Inc., Norton, MA

The internship really affirmed what I want to do in a professional environment, and it demonstrated for me the mixture of fieldwork and computer work that I am aiming for in a career.

Rachel Crafford

2020, Anthropology, Environmental Science

Davis International Fellowship

Wheaton College Biology Department, Fieldwork with Professor Jessie Knowlton, Cuenca, Ecuador

I learned that not only can I conduct fieldwork focused on conservation research but I also can design and implement the conservation project itself—creating a schedule for work, maximizing data gathering and rolling with the ever-changing weather conditions of the Andes mountains.

Faculty

Jani Benoit

Professor of Chemistry; Program Coordinator of Environmental Science

Geoffrey Collins

Professor of Geology

Matthew J. Evans

Professor of Chemistry and Geology

Jason C. Goodman

Associate Professor of Physics; Chair of the Department of Physics

Donna O. Kerner

Professor of Anthropology, Emerita; William Isaac Cole Professor of Anthropology

Jessie Knowlton

Assistant Professor of Biology

Scott W. Shumway

Bojan Jennings Professor of Biology; Program Coordinator of Environmental Studies