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About
Marist's Fall Open House
Experience all that Marist has to offer at our Fall Open House.
• November 9About
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Academics
Marist's Fall Open House
Experience all that Marist has to offer at our Fall Open House.
• November 9Academics
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Admission & Financial Aid
Marist's Fall Open House
Experience all that Marist has to offer at our Fall Open House.
• November 9Admission & Financial Aid
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Student Life
Marist's Fall Open House
Experience all that Marist has to offer at our Fall Open House.
• November 9Student Life
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Leave Your Trace with Environmental Science and Policy
Our Environmental Science and Policy students are ready to harness their passion for environmental consciousness into successful and meaningful career paths. With direct campus access to the Hudson River and the expansive resources of the Hudson River Valley, extensive connections in the field, and expert faculty invested in your success, you’ll be well-prepared to make your mark on the future of the global environment.
Hands-on Learning on the Marist Campus
Located in the heart of the Hudson River Valley, Marist provides an incredible range of environmental learning opportunities right on campus.
In this video, follow along with Dr. Richard S. Feldman, Chair & Associate Professor of Environmental Science & Policy at Marist, as he helps students to learn how to identify flowering plants at the North Gate Swale.
Image of a notebook open with a pencil.
Customize Your Academics to Support Your Career Goals
Whether you’re more interested in the science behind environmental systems or you intend to fight for environmentally conscious policies, Marist’s Environmental Science and Policy major allows you to customize your academic experience to best suit your career goals.
BS in Environmental Science
Learn how to detect and solve environmental problems using physical, chemical, and biological techniques, and how to identify and understand the underlying processes controlling them. You’ll be prepared to work for environmental labs, consulting firms, natural resource and regulatory agencies, green technology companies, as well as research organizations, through a customizable set of courses. Classroom and field-based experience use a diversity of hands-on, project-based, or team-based approaches to thoroughly prepare you with the skills you’ll need to pursue a career or graduate studies in the environmental sciences or related fields.
BA in Environmental Studies
This degree is directed toward the implementation of complex environmental solutions, balancing policy-oriented approaches to environmental problems with knowledge on the science behind them. You’ll learn how to develop and evaluate cost-effective policy alternatives, generate public and political support for resource utilization practices that lower humanity's impact on the planet, enact legislation, and devise mechanisms that invite or ensure compliance or enhance understanding of the issue. Course selection is flexible to allow customization to your own interests within areas of law, business, communication, sustainability, climate, technology, and other diverse aspects of environmental justice and equity.
BA in Environmental Earth Science
This BA focuses on outdoor-based, hands-on courses that develop your scientific intellect and effective communication skills through curricular experiences that emphasize project-based learning. Courses put theory into practice through applied, real-world approaches that allow you to grow your skills in analytical and team-based methodologies – competitively preparing you as an environmental professional ready for a diversity of job types in the sciences. This degree is designed to be paired easily with Marist’s Masters in Adolescence Education (Grades 7-12). This pairing creates a joint 5-year BA/Masters program where you become eligible for teaching certification in Earth science education by also completing education-focused coursework and student teaching at the Masters level.
Environmental Minors
The program offers three possible minors, ranging from 18-29 credits. The Environmental Policy Minor provides a look into the issues, policies, and laws regarding the environment. The Environmental Science Minor provides a foundation in the natural and physical sciences as they pertain to environmental studies. The Environmental Studies Minor combines a balance of both environmental science and policy. These minors are well-suited for students of any major, like business, communication, psychology, etc.
Expert Faculty: Zion Klos
Not only are our faculty at the top of their fields with active experience in the workforce, but they are also thoroughly invested in the success of their students, frequently engaging them in professional research and educational trips. Pictured here, Dr. Zion Klos takes his students to Minnewaska State Park in the Shawangunk Mountains to study the geologic history of the region.
“In order for students to solve many of the major environmental problems influencing the region today, you need to also understand how the previous millions of years of geologic events control the look and function of our present-day landscapes,” says Klos. “We’re fortunate to be situated in the Hudson Valley, which has an abundance of open space for these kinds of explorations.”
Megan Nickel: An Internship to Benefit the Local Community
Megan participated in the coveted Tarver Summer Internship Program, which gives undergraduates the opportunity to work on a community improvement project by interning at a local non-profit organization. Working with Scenic Hudson, an organization that preserves land and farms and creates parks that connect people with the Hudson River, Megan standardized more than 1,500 data points, transformed the raw data into maps, created a set of recommendations, and documented the data collection methods for future mapping efforts. The resulting report, Poughkeepsie Northside Pedestrian Needs Assessment, will help the City of Poughkeepsie prioritize sidewalk and crosswalk improvements in the near future.
The Hudson River Valley is Your Classroom
Our location on the banks of the Hudson River provides ample opportunity for aquatic research and for use as a field site for class use. The River Lab, run out of the Cornell Boathouse on the Marist riverfront, has a flow-through system which allows students to extract water and river wildlife to test for research experiments. Marist is only thirty minutes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, where our students can intern with two dozen scientists on cutting-edge ecological research.
Ellie Petraccione: Using Scientific Research to Empower Everyday Citizens
“Sometimes it’s a struggle to get people to care about climate change because it’s such a huge problem. I want to empower people to feel like they can actually contribute to the solution.” For her Honors Thesis, Environmental Science student Ellie Petraccione focuses on the Hudson River, in particular the harmful algal blooms and cyanobacteria that have been appearing there due to climate change. Through photos, infographics, and bullet points, the project helps laypeople easily understand the problem of algal blooms on the Hudson River watershed and how it can affect their everyday lives. “When you’re out on the river in waders, you really connect to the environment, and that’s why I want to protect it. I want people to care.”
Branch Out: Student Plant Native Species in Fern Tor Preserve
Fern Tor Nature Preserve, located at the north end of the campus, has a Hudson River view and is open to the campus community. Environmental Science and Policy students use it as an ecology lab and look out for the well-being of the preserve.
Students were given the opportunity to act on the state's recommendations for native plant species best suited for Fern Tor, and coordinate 18 volunteers to decide where each species should be planted.
Apply Theory to Practice with Real-World Internships
Engaging in hands-on learning both inside and outside of the classroom is a staple of the Marist educational experience, and the Environmental Science and Policy program takes that to the next level. You’ll be encouraged to gain real-world acumen by completing internships at locations that match your future goals. Below are only a handful of locations at which Environmental Science and Policy students have completed internships.
Students walking in front of the rotunda
The Value of a Marist Education
At Marist, we pride ourselves on our dedication to providing our students with a well-rounded liberal arts education that prepares them for practical experience and profound success in their field. But don't just take our word for it - the numbers speak for themselves.
Employed or attending grad school 6 months after graduation
Of Marist Graduates Participated in one or more internships
Graduation rate, higher than the average for public and private colleges
Best Undergraduate Teaching
*As reported by U.S. News and World Report.
Top 10 Regional Universities-North
