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Changing the World Starts With Observation

Prepare for a Career in the Environment and Sustainability with SLU

Fields focused on the environment and sustainability can blend your passion for natural elements, geography or social issues with a love of statistics and analysis for a hands-on career that makes a difference for generations to come.

Participate in NASA's weather research on solar eclipses. Forecast major storms. Take week-long field trips across the country visiting environmentally important sites to labs. At ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÖÆƬ³§, studying the environment and sustainability is an immersive — and often exhilarating — experience.

Graduate Ready for Your Career in the Environment or Sustainability

With some of the most established and well-connected departments of their kind, SLU's expert faculty in the areas of environment and sustainability are dedicated to offering you research opportunities and helping you make invaluable connections.

Get hands-on experience in our labs or in the private or public sector through internships locally or across the nation.

Here, it’s all about the community, and that’s kind of reinforced my personal views on what we do in our industry and why we do it.

— Bobby Stilwell, Class of '18

Where Do SLU's Environment and Sustainability Alumni Work?

According to data from Equifax Consumer reporting agency company, employers for graduates of SLU's environment and sustainability programs include:

  • HDR Engineering Inc.
  • Horner & Shirfin Inc.
  • Power Engineers Incorporated
  • Abna Engineering
  • Advanced Construction Techniques Ltd.
  • AEP Energy Inc.
  • Americorps
  • Transportation Planners-Engineers Inc.
Environment and Sustainability Careers by the Numbers
8%

job growth annually for environmental scientists and specialists*

$61212

average salary of SLU's environment and sustainability bachelor's programs alumni five years after graduation.**

51K

positions in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers alone*

7%

job growth expected for geoscientists by 2030 (higher than average)*

Highlighted Majors in the Environment and Sustainability

Experience Hands-on Learning

You are eager to get out into the field. At ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÖÆƬ³§, we'll take you there. In addition to field trips and experiences around Missouri and nationwide, students studying the environment and sustainability at SLU have resources right on campus that are helping make sense of the forces changing the world around us.

SLU Center for Environmental Sciences

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÖÆƬ³§'s Center for Environmental Science is exploring how human activities change the Earth's atmosphere and the impact of those changes on the biological environment. Assist in a network of ozone gardens around the St. Louis metropolitan area collecting data on the amounts of ozone leaf injury throughout the growing season at the Missouri Botanical Garden and other locations. The center also focuses on environmental education and justice.

SLU Earthquake Center

Did you know that Missouri was the site of one of the largest North American earthquakes in recorded history? The New Madrid Seismic Zone originates in New Madrid, Missouri, about 160 miles away from St. Louis. Undergraduate and graduate students join researchers in SLU's Earthquake Center as they monitor seismicity there and around the world via regional and global networks — a process that began more than 100 years ago.

The Quantum Weather Project

Weather information for the Quantum Weather project is gathered from more than 100 sensors around Missouri and from weather balloons launched by SLU researchers loaded with instruments that probe the vertical structure of the atmosphere. Using computer models and analytical tools created by SLU researchers, the system produces highly detailed maps of weather activity that may affect neighborhoods across Ameren Missouri's service territory.

Remote Sensing Lab

The Remote Sensing Lab at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÖÆƬ³§ is examining the environmental impacts of land cover, land use and climate change, with particular attention to water resources and agriculture. It develops algorithms to characterize changes to Earth's land cover and integrates remote sensing observations with model-based approaches to help understand the impacts of those changes on water, energy cycles and ecosystems around the world.

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* Source: United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
** Data from Equifax Consumer reporting agency company
+ Source: Geospatial Information and Technology Association