Overview

Environmental problems have never been more pressing. You can read it in the news and see it in the changing local weather. How should we understand these problems? How can they be communicated? How can we take action to make positive change? Students in this pathway will explore these questions and prepare for careers that address the environmental problems of our time.

The Environmental Communication & Action Pathway will help students explore several ways to effect change: through communication (including artistic communication), political and social activism, and technological or institutional innovation. The pathway includes coursework on environmental problems and on strategies for communication or change, experiential learning opportunities in environmental communication and action, and reflection. Although clearly related to the environmental studies major, it draws on tools from several other disciplines and emphasizes the application of knowledge and experience after graduation.

Students who pursue this pathway will develop a better understanding of possible careers addressing environmental problems and of the skill sets that can help them to pursue a career in this area. Career opportunities include (but are not limited to) work in fields of:

  • Environmental Communication
  • Environmental Education
  • Sustainability Coordinators with Businesses or Universities
  • Work with Conservation Organizations
  • Work with Governmental Agencies
  • Renewable Energy
  • “Green” Technologies

Faculty & Staff

Denise M. Bostdorff

Denise Bostdorff

Professor of Communication Studies

dbostdorff@wooster.edu

Susan Clayton

Susan Clayton

Whitmore-Williams Professor and Department Chair of Psychology; Liaison to the Environmental Communication & Action Pathway

sclayton@wooster.edu

Mareike Herrmann

Mareike Herrmann

Professor and Department Chair of German and Russian Studies

mherrmann@wooster.edu

Niklas Manz

Niklas Manz

Associate Professor of Physics, Department Chair of Physics (On leave for Spring 2024)

nmanz@wooster.edu

Matt Mariola

Matthew Mariola

Associate Professor and Program Chair of Environmental Studies

mmariola@wooster.edu

Becky Webb

Pathways Program Coordinator, Global Engagement Office Administrative Coordinator

rwebb@wooster.edu

Brian Webb

Director of Campus Sustainability

bwebb@wooster.edu

Nick Wiesenberg

Nick Wiesenberg

Geology Technician - Earth Sciences

nwiesenberg@wooster.edu

Greg Wiles head shot

Gregory Wiles

Schoolroy Chair of Natural Resources; Professor of Earth Sciences

gwiles@wooster.edu


Latest Environmental Communication & Action News

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Brian Webb, director of campus sustainability at The College of Wooster, knows climate change is a global issue that local communities can impact. His […]

Brian Webb, The College of Wooster’s director of campus sustainability

Brian Webb to speak on panel at United Nations Climate Change Conference

Brian Webb, The College of Wooster’s director of campus sustainability, will be a panelist at COP28, the 28th Conference of the Parties of the […]

Susan Clayton

Professor Clayton discusses climate change’s effects on mental health on NPR podcast

Susan Clayton, Whitmore-Williams Professor of Psychology at The College of Wooster, was recently featured on the podcast The Sound of Ideas, produced by Ideastream […]

Sirot works with students in her lab at Wooster during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Sirot featured in publication honoring research scientists who are caregivers during pandemic

Laura Sirot, professor of biology at The College of Wooster, published research on the reproductive biology of the Mexican Fruit Fly with a group […]

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Requirements

Experiential Learning Opportunities (Complete one)

The following EL opportunities are examples of what may count toward the Environmental Communication & Action Pathway:

Note: Students electing to complete one or more of the opportunities below will still need to complete the EL Pathway Approval Form to have the experience counted

Run by the College

  • Study abroad – many locations allow for a focus on environmental issues
  • TREK programs – place-based learning focused on historical and cross-cultural framework
  • AMRE – project-based and service-learning (when the project relates to environmental issues)
  • Faculty projects:
    • Salamander Squad at Wooster Memorial Park (Dr. Lehtinen)
    • Reforestation and carbon sequestration project at Fern Valley (Dr. Lehtinen)
    • Tree Ring Lab (Dr. Wiles and Dr. Wiesenburg)
    • Work in Campus Learning Garden (Dr. Mariola and Dr. Moreno)

In the local community

  • City of Wooster
  • Local Roots
  • Wooster Bike Compost (contact Martin Lubell: martinlubell@mac.com)
  • Farmer’s Market
  • Parks (Mark Nussbaum, City Parks Supervisor)
  • Wooster Memorial Park (contact Dr. Lehtinen or Dr. Manz)
  • Education and Public Awareness
  • Plants
  • Trails

Internships

  • On Campus
    • Dining
    • Grounds
    • Physical Plant
  • Off Campus
  • Service-oriented activities
    • Volunteer work
    • Leadership roles in clubs and organizations, including groups on campus (Greenhouse, Environmental Justice Coalition, and Organic Farming Club)

Reflection

  • Reflections guide students to articulate meaningful connections between the skills and knowledge they are gaining and the experiences in their coursework, experiential learning opportunities and career goals. Reflections take place along five points in the pathway:
  • First Reflection Touchpoint: At the Start of the Pathway
  • The first opportunity to reflect is when the student declares their Pathway.  Responses to prompts asked at this moment establish a baseline from which student moves forward.
  • Second Reflection Touchpoint: An Opportunity to Investigate
  • At this point in the process, students will explore career and internship resources offered through Career Planning in APEX. They will also craft a career-ready resume.
  • Third Reflection Touchpoint: Before Experiential Learning Opportunity
  • This reflection offers students the opportunity to connect with professionals who will guide them as they plan their experiential learning for maximum growth and impact.
  • Fourth Reflection Touchpoint: After Experiential Learning Opportunity
  • This reflection takes place after the student has completed an experiential learning opportunity and asks them to consider how the work they have done connects with their pathway.
  • Fifth Reflection Touchpoint: At the End of This Pathway – and the Start of New Ones
  • At this touchpoint, students engage with questions that help them build connections between theory and practice, their career goals, and how they plan to extend their Pathway beyond Wooster.

 


Coursework (Three Courses)

Students are required to complete three courses from the approved list below.

  • One course must be from the first category
  • One course must be from  the second category
  • Each course must be from a different department
  • Courses can count for more than one category (you will see them listed in each category they count for)

Some important provisions:

  • Courses in the pathway can count toward graduate requirements (including those requirements within a major and/or minor)
  • Students are encouraged to complete coursework outside of an intended major or minor

Category 1

Courses that relate to information relevant to understanding environmental problems.

  • BIOL-3500: Population & Community Ecology*
  • BIOL-35600: Conservation Biology*
  • CHEM-10103: World of Air and Water
  • CHEM-21600: Environmental Chemistry*
  • ESCI-11000: Environmental Geology
  • ESCI-11500: Oceanography
  • ESCI-12000: Geology of National Parks
  • ESCI-27000: Paleoclimate*
  • ESCI-27500: Modern Climate Change*
  • ECON-24000: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics*
  • ECON-29907: Economic Topics in Environmental Justice
  • ENGL-21026: Lit, Cul & Environmental Crisis
  • ENVS-10000: Key Concepts in Environmental Studies
  • ENVS-11000: Environment and Society
  • ENVS-12000: Ecology & the Environment
  • ENVS-16000: Science of Environmental Issues
  • ENVS-19906: Intro to Environmental Policy
  • ENVS -22000: From Farm to Table: Understanding the Food System
  • ENVS-29903: Urban Environments in Comparative Context
  • ENVS-30001: Sustainability
  • RUSS-24001: Imagining Siberia
  • HIST-10100: Introduction to Environmental History
  • HIST-23800: The American West
  • PHIL-21600: Environmental Ethics
  • PHYS-19901: Environmental Physics
  • PSYC-22500: Environmental Psychology
  • URBN-10100: Contemporary Urban Issues

Category 2

Courses that relate to communicating environmental issues and concerns and strategies for solutions.

  • BIOL-35600: Conservation Biology*
  • CHEM-21600: Environmental Chemistry*
  • COMM-25100: Communication & Social Protest
  • COMM-25900: Communicating Public Policy*
  • COMM-26000: Environmental Communication*
  • ESCI-11000: Environmental Geology
  • ESCI-27000: Paleoclimate*
  • ENGL-16000: Nature and Environmental Writing
  • ENGL-24022: Green Romanticism
  • ENGL-30000: Writing a Warming World: Climate Change and Narrative*
  • ENVS-19906: Intro to Environmental Policy
  • ENVS -22000: From Farm to Table: Understanding the Food System
  • ENVS-24000: Environmental Innovations
  • GRMN-22806: Germany’s Nature
  • SOCI-20300: Environmental Sociology*
  • BIOL-35600: Conservation Biology*
  • ESCI-11000: Environmental Geology
  • ESCI-25000: Intro to GIS
  • ESCI-27500: Modern Climate Change*
  • ECON-24000: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics*
  • ECON-29907: Economic Topics in Environmental Justice
  • ENVS 15000: Introduction to Environmental Politics
  • ENVS-24000: Environmental Innovations
  • ENVS-29903: Urban Environments in Comparative Context
  • ENVS-30001: Sustainability
  • PHIL-21600: Environmental Ethics
  • PHYS-19901: Environmental Physics
  • SOCI-29905: Social Movements
  • PSYC-22500: Environmental Psychology*

 

*Course has pre-requisite or requires instructor permission to register