Why Environmental Science at SBU

A Challenging Major for Challenging Problems

The Environmental Science major at St. Bonaventure University is an interdisciplinary degree that provides intense submersion into the disciplines of environmental science, biology, physics, and chemistry. Students’ rigorous investigation of scientific principles is complemented by a core curriculum that focuses on discovery, critical thinking, communication and context.

The Environmental Science Program is the only science degree at St. Bonaventure that requires an internship. Program designers recognized the need to put science theory and problem-solving methodology into action as a means of creating a culminating academic experience that would thrust graduates into their first professional role. Students have interned at the Cattaraugus County Health Department, national parks throughout the United States, the Department of Environmental Conservation, and many industrial firms and agencies involved in environmental technology.

Heather Grimm, ’05, an environmental scientist with an engineering firm in the northeast, credits her success to the strength of the program, noting that St. Bonaventure "does a wonderful job of preparing environmental science students." The comprehensive nature of the program, Grimm said, offers a "blend of information helpful not only in deciding which career path to take, but also for evolving multiple skills for future use."

Through a grant from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation in Buffalo, environmental science students and faculty have access to an integrated field station, or hydrology observatory, that enables real-life experiences with the techniques used by water quality professionals and other hydrologists. The observatory is composed of instruments for physical and chemical analysis of water quality in the Allegheny River (which runs along the southern edge of campus) and its tributaries, and geophysical equipment to assist in noninvasive site characterization.

Dr. Ted Georgian is a member of the environmental sciences faculty. "With this equipment, the faculty and students of St. Bonaventure are tracing the pathways by which a variety of pollutants from our local drainage basin reach the Allegheny River," said Georgian. The observatory provides the University's environmental science majors with direct, hands-on experiences studying groundwater and other aspects of the hydrology of the Allegheny River basin. For more about his research on running water environments and opportunities for student research, visit Dr. Georgian's homepage.