Ready to be a planet hero?
Students in the USC Dornsife Environmental Studies Program (ENST) train to become the world’s next generation of environmental and sustainability changemakers: scientists, policymakers, communicators, educators, and more.
Environmental issues affect every part of our lives, so our program trains you to think holistically and creatively about solving problems at the intersection of people and planet. Plus, we’ve got some pretty cool experiences waiting for you at the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island, throughout L.A., and even around the world!
Your Path to a Fulfilling Future
You can find our graduates in museums, boardrooms, labs, and more. But they all have one thing in common: their experience with the Environmental Studies Program equipped them for a successful and meaningful future.
“I have been passionate about wildlife conservation my entire life but struggled to envision myself as an environmental professional because I came from a background underrepresented in the environmental field. The ENST program placed wildlife conservation into a more relevant context for someone like me and helped make a career in wildlife conservation seem more tangible.”
The ENST Experience
See what it means to be an Environmental Studies student at USC.
Not a moment wasted
Thanks to our location in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest city and a leader in sustainability policy and initiatives, ENST students can tap countless opportunities to practice what they’re learning.
Take the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum’s zero-waste program as an example. The stadium has worked its way to achieving more than 90% waste diversion while hosting massive events like Trojan football games.
As part of an ENST course on operational sustainability, students get to go behind the scenes at the historic venue to see firsthand how Coliseum staff implement zero-waste plans.
Field experiences like no other
Every summer, the Environmental Studies Program offers immersive living/learning courses at our satellite campus on Catalina Island.
Students attending the May and July terms for our Catalina Residential College make connections with their peers and across disciplines while making once-in-a-lifetime memories.
Small course sizes, field research experiences, and encounters with the island’s pristine ecosystems make for a learning experience like nothing else on the planet.
Preparation for your dream job: saving the world
Stationed in Hawaii as a U.S. Marine, Nick Foster ’20 found a calling to work in ocean science. He attended USC under the university’s Yellow Ribbon program for veterans and focused on environmental studies and geographic information systems (GIS).
After graduation, Nick joined the Ocean Exploration Trust for a leg of their ambitious project to map the entire sea floor by 2030. He’s now a hydrographic officer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
For students who want to take a similar path, Nick has some simple advice: take advantage of every opportunity. “While I was an undergrad, I would do anything I could to get out there and learn as much as I could about anything directly related to ocean exploration or ocean science,” he says.
Research experience for every student
Thanks to a redesign of our ENST 320a course on water and soil sustainability, every Environmental Studies major and minor is now guaranteed hands-on field and lab research experience.
ENST 320a is required for all ENST majors and minors and is offered at both USC’s main campus in Los Angeles and on Catalina Island. No matter where you take it, you’ll gain valuable skills in data analysis, holistic thinking, and collaboration – skills that every employer wants to see.
Unique study-abroad opportunities
Picture this: you’re an ENST major with a lifelong fear of sharks and swimming in the ocean. You want to spend a semester abroad. Where do you go? The…Galápagos Islands?
If you’re Alisha Soni, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
She spent 17 weeks in a unique People, Politics & the Environment program that earned ENST credit and brought her face-to-face with the environmental challenges faced by Ecuador’s people and ecosystems.
Oh, and she swam with sharks and got scuba-certified. NBD.
Life-changing internships
ENST directed internships match students with professional experiences in environmental and sustainability fields.
Try one, and you’ll be surprised how it expands your horizons. Just ask Muna Obiefule, who completed a directed internship in environmental education with L.A.’s Garden School Foundation.
“Up until this internship, I had no idea that this type of job existed,” Muna says. “But this is my dream job. This internship really just opened my eyes to what fields I can go into post-grad. I feel like I’m moving in the right direction of what I actually want to do.”
Ways to Connect with Us
Whether you want to make the environment the primary focus of your college career, or you want to add sustainability expertise to a major in another field, we have the options you need.