What is Environmental Science?

Environmental Sciences is a discipline that is increasingly relevant in today’s world of global human impacts.  Even ardent skeptics of environmental problems such as climate change now concede that human actions do indeed have serious effects on the environment, and ultimately on our quality of life.  The foundation of Environmental Sciences and the related discipline of Conservation Biology is the view that humans are part of environmental systems and that strong science should be used to understand, predict, and reduce human-caused impacts on the environment.  Academic programs in Environmental Sciences around the country vary greatly from institution to institution.  Programs range from disciplinary to multidisciplinary with faculty conducting research on a wide range of problems in the environment.  

What is Environmental Science at FAU?

At FAU, the Environmental Science Program is an applied multidisciplinary field that focuses on human-caused problems, mostly in aquatic systems.  We focus on aquatic systems because this is where a great strength of our faculty lies and because of FAU’s proximity to the Everglades and coral reef ecosystems.  The Everglades is the focus of an unprecedented restoration effort and much of the research done in the Environmental Sciences Program is linked to that effort.  Students in the Environmental Sciences Program can receive through the College of Science a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Sciences or a Bachelor of Science Certificate in Environmental Studies. The faculty in the Environmental Science Program reside in many participating departments including Biological Sciences, Geosciences, Chemistry, Philosophy, Economics, Urban and Regional Planning, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, and the Center for Environmental Studies.  Their collective research in Environmental Sciences tends to focus on aquatic animals, like sea turtles, wading birds, fish, and crayfish, or aquatic systems like freshwater marshes, mangroves, sea grass, and coral reefs.  The questions on which much of their research focuses can be grouped around four major human-caused stressors:destruction of wetlands, altered wetland hydrology, increased contaminants, and increase in invasive species."  The research interests of each faculty member can be traced through the conceptual model by scrolling over the questions of interest. 

Environmental Science Facilities

Students and faculty in the Environmental Sciences Program can draw on a several research and educational facilities.  These include a new state of the art green house at our Davie campus, the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution at FAU, Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex, Riverwoods Field Laboratory, the Pine Jog Environmental Education Center.   Our faculty also enjoy close collaborations and associations with staff at Everglades National Park, the A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, the South Florida Water Management District, U.S. Geological Survey in Davie, Florida, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 

A Career in Environmental Sciences

The Environmental Sciences Program at FAU prepares students for advanced graduate studies or a career at research, management, regulatory, or non-governmental organizations.  With the bulk of our research opportunities being tied to ongoing restoration or management activities, students can be assured that the results of their research will not languish on a book shelf but will be eagerly read by resource managers.  If perspective students want to conduct research that will guide the management and restoration of some of our nation’s most sensitive aquatic systems and species, then they should strongly consider FAU’s Environmental Sciences Program. 

 

News and Events

March 17, 2008

On Thursday March 13th our college suffered the tragic loss of three researchers in the College of Science. All three were members of Dale Gawlik's lab and were killed when their small aircraft crashed during a Lake Okeechobee wading bird survey. Damion Marx was a PhD candidate in Integrative Biology and was conducting research on the timing, size and location of wading bird colonies at Lake Okeechobee. Philip Heidemann was a Biology masters candidate who was working on a Habitat Suitability Index model for wood storks and white ibis in southwest Florida. Phil was assisting Damion during this survey. Gareth Akerman was a research technician in the lab who worked with Damion on his study. A memorial video can be viewed on the Gawlik lab website.