<a href="/live/image/gid/5/width/650/86521_ENVS_main_image.jpg" class="lw_preview_image lw_disable_preview" tabindex="-1"><picture class="lw_image lw_image86521"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/5/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/5/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/5/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/5/width/500/height/479/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/5/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/5/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 501px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/5/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/5/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/5/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.jpg" alt="Associate Professor of Geological Science Elizabeth Safran leading a field trip in the Gorge. " width="720" height="690" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/5/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/5/width/720/height/690/crop/1/86521_ENVS_main_image.rev.1607734024.jpg 3x" data-max-w="2504" data-max-h="2400" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a> <div class="hero-split_image_caption collapsable-caption">Associate Professor of Geological Science Elizabeth Safran leading a field trip in the Gorge. </div>

/ Environmental Studies

Environmental Studies

When you earn a degree in environmental studies at Lewis & Clark, you will learn the newest concepts in the field and cultivate cutting-edge technical and leadership skills to make a difference in the world. You’ll do all of this while benefiting from our proximity to Portland and the diverse natural environments of the Pacific Northwest.

Why Choose a Degree in Environmental Studies?

Our unique program will challenge you to transcend intellectual, geographic, and communication boundaries as you weave insights drawn from across the sciences and humanities; apply them in local, regional, and global contexts; and learn strategies to connect with the people and institutions you encounter. You will draw a larger—potentially more hopeful—circle around environmental issues. You will graduate with a background in environmental science situated in a broader understanding of cultural, political, and other key dimensions, plus skills and experience you can apply to professional opportunities, graduate study, and effective environmental action.

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What You’ll Study

We offer a major and minor. The heart of our interdisciplinary curriculum includes core courses in environmental studies, which help build an intellectually coherent understanding of environmental problems and solutions; breadth courses in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, which provide important discipline-specific tools for environmental analysis; elective courses, which offer opportunities to explore key topics; and a quantitative requirement, which builds skills in data analysis and modeling. In addition, many of our students earn course credit toward their environmental studies degree while on an overseas program. Popular programs for our students are Australia, East Africa, Ecuador, India, Japan, and Senegal.

Outside the classroom, the annual Environment Across Boundaries (ENVX) Symposium is organized by a committee of students with support from faculty and staff. This multiday, interdisciplinary event encourages students to expand their search for new scholarly concepts and skills, transcend geographic boundaries as they explore environmental issues around the world, and engage with people on all sides of these issues, ideally working toward mutual respect and collaborative solutions. The symposium offers the Lewis & Clark community and general public an opportunity to experience this broader approach to studying the environment. Our students also regularly engage in constructive environmental dialogue with people from diverse backgrounds in Portland and across the Pacific Northwest, and develop their own engagement projects to reach out to people connected to environmental issues. Graduating seniors have the opportunity to travel to and present their capstone work at the annual Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) national conference. Additionally, many of our students become trip leaders for College Outdoors, taking their peers to spectacularly beautiful sites in the Pacific Northwest. This opportunity provides them with leadership opportunities and professional training for careers in outdoor education.

Curriculum

Connect With Lewis & Clark!

<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Any Japanese course with Instructor Satomi Newsom</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> In learning a new language, it often feels like you’re learning something novel with each lesson because so much is unfamiliar. The sense of discovery is very rewarding.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/16680-dexter-tatsukawa"> <a href="/live/profiles/16680-dexter-tatsukawa">Dexter Tatsukawa BA ’24</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Japanese </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Philosophy and the Environment with Professor Jay Odenbaugh</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> It was an inspiring course that truly expanded my perspective on environmental ethics. Dr. Odenbaugh was an enthusiastic professor who posed engaging questions and fostered a space for students to debate key environmental topics.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/18271-grace-blunck"> <a href="/live/profiles/18271-grace-blunck">Grace Blunck BA ’24</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Political Science </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Social Change With Professor Bruce Podobnik</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> The class tackles various social issues globally, and as a student I got insight into some incredible activism that I have been applying to my own actions in my home town in Denmark. To be able to read, discuss, and learn about some inspiring activists has not only been informative, but the class itself has been one of my most engaging classes so far because I felt that every single student in my class wanted to learn from one another.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/10616-tobias-varntoft"> <a href="/live/profiles/10616-tobias-varntoft">Tobias Varntoft BA ’21</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Political Economy </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Global Environmental History with Associate Professor Andrew Bernstein</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> I believe everyone should learn about the historical relationship between humans and their surrounding environment. As an environmental studies major, I found this to be an incredibly foundational class to my current and future thinking.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/20614-izz-lamola"> <a href="/live/profiles/20614-izz-lamola">Izz Lamola BA ’25</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Rhetoric and Media Studies </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Critical Perspectives on Development with Associate Professor Maryann Bylander</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> I think L&C has a great sociology and anthropology department, and this class shifted my perspective so much when it comes to global development projects. Everyone should take a class with Professor Bylander, you will learn a lot about how the world really works!</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/18272-julia-einaudi"> <a href="/live/profiles/18272-julia-einaudi">Julia Einaudi BA ’25</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Environmental Engagement</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> Spending an entire semester creating an event in this class was certainly a highlight of my academic career. Working with the notable organization Narrative 4, we created a unique story exchange with students that was the largest of its kind at the time.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/20473-liv-ladaire"> <a href="/live/profiles/20473-liv-ladaire">Liv Ladaire BA ’25</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Philosophy of Climate Change with Jay Odenbaugh</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> Every lecture challenged my perspective and what I thought I knew about environmentalism.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/22393-kaia-hirsch"> <a href="/live/profiles/22393-kaia-hirsch">Kaia Hirsch BA ’26</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Global Environmental History With Associate Professor Andy Bernstein</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> This class gave me such an amazing and comprehensive understanding of humans and our connections with nature through time. I frequently think back to the sources we read and the concepts they’ve diffused, and see the way they’ve shaped our societies today.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/18475-beau-staun-list"> <a href="/live/profiles/18475-beau-staun-list">Beau Staun-List BA ’25</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies and French Studies (double) </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Unnatural Disasters with Associate Professor Liz Safran</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> I have always been interested in natural disasters, and this course was able to provide a wide scope of information, through perspectives I had never thought of before, but now think are crucial for everyone to learn about.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/18270-kaylee-howser"> <a href="/live/profiles/18270-kaylee-howser">Kaylee Howser BA ’24</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Earth System Science </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Environmental Geology</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> We covered so much in one semester, but the content was genuinely fascinating and each new unit built on the last to show how interconnected earth systems are.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/21570-tessa-forth"> <a href="/live/profiles/21570-tessa-forth">Tessa Forth BA ’26</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Earth System Science, Hispanic Studies </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Intro to Data Science with Professor Ellen Seljan</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> I came into the class with no prior experience with coding, and so the class was a way to learn the basics of R in a welcoming environment that was accessible to people with different levels of knowledge of code.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/20612-elise-son"> <a href="/live/profiles/20612-elise-son">Elise Son BA ’27</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Earth System Sciences and Data Science (double) </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="statistics_slide swiper-slide"> <div class="statistics_box" style="text-align:left;"> <div class="statistics_box_inner"> <h4 class="statistics_headline" style="font-size: 3rem;"> Favorite Class </h4> <h6 class="statistics_summary" style="font-size: 2rem;"> <strong>Global Environmental History With Associate Professor Andrew Bernstein</strong> </h6>  <div class="statistics_summary"> <p> Professor Bernstein carefully curated the content of the class to be engaging and eye-opening. He is a really kind and smart person who provided helpful and detailed feedback and cares for his students. I learned something new in every lecture, and those learnings are applicable to many of my classes.</p> </div> <div class="profile-box_name" href="/live/profiles/16321-francisco-perozo"> <a href="/live/profiles/16321-francisco-perozo">Francisco Perozo BA ’23</a> </div>  <div class="profile-box_field"> Major: Environmental Studies </div> <div class="profile-box_field"> Minor: Art and Art History </div> </div> </div> </div>

Complement Your Education With One of These Minors

The most popular minors for our environmental studies majors are data science, Earth system science, and political economy.

What Students Are Saying About Lewis & Clark

I had an interest in environmental studies, and L&C seemed like a good place for it.
Dexter Tatsukawa BA ’24
Environmental Studies | Japanese | Sunnyvale, California
More about Dexter
I love how moldable the environmental studies major is. You are given the tools and support to focus your studies on whatever you find most interesting.
Morgaine McGrath BA ’25
Environmental Studies | Encinitas, California
More about Morgaine
The environmental studies (ENVS) program in particular hosts a huge range of interests—it never ends up feeling like I’m stuck in an enclaved “perspective bubble” in this department.
Tessa Forth BA ’26
Environmental Studies | Earth System Science, Hispanic Studies | Barbados/Las Vegas, Nevada
More about Tessa

What Can You Do With a Degree in Environmental Studies?

Our alumni use their BA in environmental studies in a variety of careers in nonprofit organizations, in academia, and at companies and agencies. Many go on to pursue advanced degrees in environmental history, landscape architecture, nuclear engineering, and other fields.

Dedicated Faculty

Our expert professors are your expert mentors. You will learn directly from faculty (no graduate assistants here!) that are nationally recognized in their fields of study and who love to work with and learn from their students. Your professors will inspire you to be a thoughtful and passionate participant in a diverse world. Your small classes will support you as you explore new ideas, find your voice, and speak your truth.

Meet the Professors

Top
Lewis & Clark earned a spot on Princeton Review’s 2025 “Best Colleges” list.
2,194
As of fall 2023, there are 2,194 degree-seeking students enrolled at Lewis & Clark College.
13:1
Lewis & Clark College has a student-to-faculty ratio of 13:1.
98%
Within six months of graduation, 98% of the Lewis & Clark Class of 2023 was already changing the world through employment (84%), continuing studies (11%), and service work (3%), like the Peace Corps.
47
U.S. states represented in our undergraduate student body

Invest in Yourself

A private liberal arts education is often more affordable than you think. Last year, Lewis & Clark distributed over $74 million in assistance from institutional, federal, state, and private sources. Additionally, we’re so confident that our first-year students will graduate in four years with their bachelor of arts degree that if you don’t, we’ll cover the extra semester of tuition.

Find Your People

Students can join a variety of student-run organizations that relate to their environmental studies degree, like the ENVX: Environment Across Boundaries symposium and Students Engaged in Eco-Defense (SEED). Don’t see what you’re looking for on the club list? Start something new and build your own community of peers!

Where Lewis & Clark Will Take You

Lewis & Clark gave me a lot of confidence to express my ideas, opinions, and intentions. I think my favorite thing that I learned was the ability to problem solve.
Skylar Golleher BA ’21
Economics and Environmental Studies (double) | Little Rock, Arkansas
More about Skylar
At Lewis & Clark, I was always taking a variety of classes in different disciplines and using my brain in different ways. This definitely serves me well in my job now!
Elise Pfrommer BA ’21
Environmental Affairs | Latin American Studies | Lexington, Massachussetts
More about Elise
I am now working as a manager of a canoe outfitter and helping educate and prepare people to go on wilderness trips. This job has combined my passions for education, environmental studies, history, and outdoor recreation!
Maddy Frawley BA ’18
Environmental Studies
More about Maddy