Environmental Science

Get Ready to Grow Your Horizons

This powerful program cuts across academic disciplines to give you a deep and wide-ranging view of the environment and its challenges. In small classes, you’ll learn side-by-side with outstanding faculty, studying biology, chemistry, ecology, physics, botany, mathematics and computer science. You’ll find a home in Parmer Hall, the campus’s newest building, with 16 laboratories and state-of-the-art scientific equipment. Here, you will develop computational and statistical skills, while learning to think, write, speak, analyze and solve problems at a whole new level. This major will give you the knowledge and skills you’ll need to make important contributions in a field that is growing rapidly in size and significance.

Learn By Doing. Then, Do Even More. 

Practical experience is built into the curriculum. Our internships draw on Chicago’s world-class research, scientific and corporate resources. You can combine academic study with compassionate service to people in need, or complete your own, hands-on research project in close collaboration with faculty (and often with university funding). You also can immerse yourself in a different society and culture through our outstanding study abroad program. You’ll have your choice of programs on four continents.

Undergraduate research is a Dominican trademark. You won’t have to wait until graduate school to work side by side with a brilliant faculty scholar. You can even apply for special funding from the university to support your original work. Our annual research expo in April gives you a chance to practice your presentation skills and show your stuff.

International Students

For international students (F-1), this program is a STEM-designated program, which can qualify you to extend your post-graduation stay in the United States.  

Prepare for Effective Service in a Vital Profession

As concerns around climate change continue to grow, college graduates with a strong foundation in environmental science are in ever greater demand. Our graduates find career opportunities in natural resources, energy, regulatory compliance and many other areas, in both the public and private sectors. The curriculum is designed to prepare you for lifelong intellectual and professional competence. In the workplace, our graduates know what they’re doing. They’re informed, thoughtful, open to new ideas, proficient with lab procedures and technologies, and able to adapt and thrive through long and meaningful careers. They have earned their way into leadership positions in the professions of their choice.