The University of California, Santa Cruz environmental sciences (ESCI) major is an interdepartmental, undergraduate-only program. The purpose of the ESCI major is to educate students interested in environmental science problems and issues, with a focus on issues within the physical sciences (as opposed to focusing on biological sciences).

The major specializes primarily on the following areas:

- Hydrosphere: water resources, water quality, aquatic chemistry, physical oceanography, chemical oceanography, glaciology

- Pollution and transport: environmental toxicology, environmental transport/fluid mechanics, environmental monitoring

- Global scale environment: climate, climate dynamics, global cycles of water, carbon and nutrients, remote sensing of the environment

- Atmosphere: meteorology, air quality, atmospheric chemistry

The core faculty of the major are primarily from two departments, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Ocean Sciences. Faculty from other departments such as Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology and Environmental Studies may also be involved.

In addition to providing comprehensive preparation in the basic physical sciences, and particular breadth and depth in environmental sciences, the curriculum is structured to prepare students for the competitive graduate school and career marketplace. The core of the major includes calculus, physics, chemistry, and core foundational upper-division environmental sciences courses.

Graduates of the ESCI major are expected to continue on to a variety of careers, such as:

- Business and industry

- Environmental consulting

- Governmental agencies at the federal, state, and local level

- Non-profit organizations

- Research at universities, governmental research institutions, or other scientific agencies

- Graduate/professional school in areas such as science, engineering, teaching, law, public health, business

For more information about the affiliated faculty and staff for the major, including areas of interest and facilities, contact e-mails and phone numbers, and how to declare this major, please see our website.

Program Learning Outcomes

The ESCI major has three broad program learning outcomes, each with three specific learning outcomes:

PLO 1: Disciplinary Knowledge Goals

✔ Reservoirs: Understand and describe the properties of the various environmental “reservoirs”, which represent different, interacting physical regimes. For example, a global model might have the atmosphere, oceans, plants and soils as four primary interacting reservoirs.

✔ Processes: Understand and describe the processes governing the properties and evolution of Earth’s physical environment, i.e., the properties and evolution of reservoirs and their interactions.

✔ Application: Apply the knowledge of reservoirs and processes to explain, analyze and predict phenomena within the environmental sciences.

PLO 2: Quantitative Reasoning Goals

✔ Calculation: Utilize mathematical tools (e.g. algebra, calculus) to address questions in the environmental sciences.

✔ Visualization: Interpret and produce visual representations of data in the environmental sciences (e.g. graphs and charts) that conform to disciplinary standards.

✔ Analysis: Use quantitative analysis as the basis for drawing insights and conclusions, while expressing the appropriate assumptions and qualifications.

PLO 3: Written Communication Goals

✔ Mechanics: Write sentences with correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

✔ Conventions: Accurately utilize the formatting, stylistic, citation and bibliographic conventions of environmental sciences in the written document.

✔ Organization: Construct paragraphs, sections and an overall document that flows logically and persuasively argues a thesis.