CONCENTRATION in the BA ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES MAJOR
What You’ll Study
Students use the land on our campus for teaching and learning through long-term partnerships with both schools and non-profits in the community. You’ll refine your skills from work crews to develop programs that address best practices and guidelines developed by the North American Association of Environmental Education. Finally, you’ll gain additional real-world skills through a required internship and a capstone project.
Courses
Building on the core of the Environmental Studies major, the Environmental Education concentration focuses on teaching you how to inspire others to go beyond just parsing facts about the environment. Course topics include educational psychology and program planning, which will show you how to create lesson plans and lead a class — valuable skills you’ll bring with you into the field. You’ll also take physical education courses, such as kayaking, canoeing, or rock climbing.
Internship
Put those new skills to work in your internship. Most internships partner with local community organizations, where you’ll provide environmental education programs for a specific audience. You’ll also get experience that’ll serve you in just about any job, like project management, budgeting, teaching, and professional communication.
Example Internships
- Working with at-risk high school students to teach gardening and cooking classes for first-graders
- Designing outdoor learning labs for middle school students
- Facilitating workshops on wellness for low-income senior citizens
- Designing climate justice tours for faith communities
Where Will You Go from Here?
Warren Wilson environmental education graduates go on to careers in educating youth or adults on environmental issues, or graduate school programs in subjects like education, environmental journalism, or community-based conservation.
Jobs of recent graduates include:
- Public school farm manager and educator
- Master gardener coordinator
- Wildlife refuge specialist for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services
- Middle school science teacher
- Nutrition educator for Cooperative Extension
- Community organizer for conservation nonprofits
