News Releases

New Minor in Environmental Sustainability Available at USM

August 17 , 2007

Green is in. Concert promoters, car manufacturers, and Congress are all addressing the issue of environmental sustainability. The growing recognition that society must work to live more sustainably is being taken seriously at the University of Southern Maine, where a new minor in environmental sustainability, coordinated by the Department of Environmental Science, will be up and running for the Fall 2007 semester.

Recognizing that various academic disciplines will be needed to achieve environmental sustainability, the goal of the minor is to provide broad, interdisciplinary training from a sustainability perspective to identify and solve global environmental problems.

Through 19 credits of classes, students in the Environmental Sustainability minor will examine the scientific, cultural, economic, and policy aspects of sustainability, and will learn the skills needed to recognize and overcome barriers to achieving sustainability. Required courses from the Department of Environmental Science include: Fundamentals of Environmental Science; Environmental Planning; and Global Environmental Problems and Sustainability. Interdisciplinary courses include classes in economics, criminology, philosophy, and political science.

The new program is part of an effort to incorporate principles of sustainability throughout the university. Faculty members in a variety of disciplines are integrating sustainability issues into their courses. In the spring of 2002, then USM President Richard L. Pattenaude signed The Talloires Declaration, agreeing to increase awareness of environmentally sustainable development and to educate for environmentally responsible citizenship. Earlier this year, he signed the American College & University
Presidents Climate Commitment, which pledges to neutralize greenhouse gas
emissions, invest in environmentally sustainable practices, and to promote
the necessary research and educational efforts to fight global warming. In the spring of 2006, USM's Abromson Community Education Center in Portland became the first building in Maine and the fifth in New England to be awarded "Gold" LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) from the U.S. Green Building Council for its environmentally responsible design. The award is based on meeting environmental criteria relating to site development and the careful use of energy, water, and materials to minimize the building's impact on the environment. USM’s John Mitchell Center renovation, completed in 2004, and a new residence hall opening September 2007 are also LEED certified buildings.

For more information about the new program in Environmental Sustainability, see http://www.usm.maine.edu/esd/degree/index.htm and click on “Environmental Sustainability,” or contact Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Travis Wagner at 207-228-8450, twagner@usm.maine.edu.

The University of Southern Maine is the comprehensive metropolitan university in Maine, serving some 10,500 students with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston-Auburn. Founded in 1878, USM is a member of the University of Maine System, and currently offers over 50 majors and more than 40 academic programs. For more information, see: http://www.usm.maine.edu.

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