Environmental Inquiry

This interdisciplinary, intercollege minor can enrich all areas of academic study with essential, cross- disciplinary understanding of crucial environmental issues and how they are being framed and tackled from both scientific and policy perspectives. The minor's coursework can give students a greater appreciation of the environment, a broader understanding of environmental issues and problems, and insight into alternative methods of inquiry. If you have a background in science but also have ambitions to do something about the environment, you might find that a lot of the decisions about the environment are made in political settings. To have success in improving the environment will require you to speak the language of policy makers. The minor can help you on this track, exposing students to both the scientific background needed to understand environmental issues as well as the social science you need to promote these issues successfully.

You Might Like This Program If...

• You are interested in how the human impact on the environment is becoming increasingly relevant as population grows, resources are consumed, and businesses and industries become ever more productive.
• You are interested in the complex debates that engage professionals from all fields. Now, more than ever, concerned agencies, organizations, and companies seek individuals knowledgeable about these important issues with experience communicating with people in professions outside of their own.
• You want to be familiar with current environmental issues across all professional fields.

This intercollege minor is designed for students across the disciplines who wish to prepare for addressing environmental issues or problems as professionals or citizens. The minor is available to all undergraduates regularly enrolled in a degree program at the University. The objectives are to allow students to gain the multiple perspectives necessary for understanding environmental issues as well as to increase skills in collaborating with those from very different disciplinary backgrounds to find acceptable solutions. Students will be challenged to move beyond the channels of thinking characteristic of their own discipline to new ways of knowing, new sensitivities, and new analytical approaches. The program will engage students actively in learning experiences outside their major course of study. This minor is intended not to replace existing minors but to be a true intercollege, interdisciplinary minor.

Advising for students in this minor and approval of curriculum exceptions will be available through the Environmental Inquiry adviser designated within each participating college.

If you are a first year student applying to Penn State:

Click Apply to start your Penn State application. Before starting, you can also review the Applying Online Worksheet for more details and helpful hints about the application.

Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.

After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR). As you begin the SRAR process, a new window will open allowing you to complete your SRAR. SRAR will focus on your high school coursework. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. Therefore, have a copy of your secondary school records available as you complete your SRAR. You will need to enter every class and every grade earned for the last three years, as well as those classes in progress.

After completing your SRAR, you will be directed back to the Penn State application in order to complete the Program of Study portion of the application. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for first-year students.

After completing this section of the application, you will provide some additional information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.

If you are a transfer student applying to Penn State:

All international transfer students will be required to submit official high school transcripts in order to complete the application. International transfer students will not complete the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) for either their high school or college coursework.

If you have accepted your offer of admission to Penn State:

If you completed SRAR and are accepted to Penn State, please provide the following for grade verification:

• Official transcript from years 9, 10, 11, and 12. If the transcript is issued in a language other than English, it must be accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.
• Official copy of the Tawjihi, accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.

The environment provides many exciting, interesting, and satisfying career choices stretching across a tremendous range of fields and disciplines. Working in the environmental field is rewarding because you can contribute to the maintenance and conservation of essential life systems necessary for our human survival.

Students in the Environmental Inquiry Minor are well-positioned to find employment with diverse organizations spanning business, government, and nonprofit sectors. Such organizations may include (but are not limited to): American Red Cross, Amnesty International, Conservation International, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Heifer International, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. State Department, local, regional, and state planning agencies, environmental and engineering consulting firms, policy research institutes, private corporations, and humanitarian organizations.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL CAREER OPTIONS FOR GRADUATES WITH A MINOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL INQUIRY

Opportunities for Graduate Studies

A minor in Environmental Inquiry is useful for students who are interested in pursuing graduate degrees in the environmental and social sciences. Alumni enter graduate and professional studies in a variety of programs, including (but not limited to) geography, planning, international development, urban studies, sustainability, environmental sciences, ecology, public policy, emergency management, and law. They sometimes begin graduate or professional programs directly after finishing undergraduate studies, but often get several years' work experience before returning to school, either full-or part-time.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDIES