Welcome from Lars Hedin, Director of the Environmental Studies Program
Lars Hedin, ENV Program Director
Issues of the environment are becoming part of everyone’s lives. No matter where your future takes you – in the world of business, in public service, in education, or in local communities – you will be asked to understand problems and opportunities as they relate to the environment. Many, if not most, of the greatest challenges facing your generation are inextricably linked to issues of the environment: the energy system, our food production system, and health and sustainability around the globe.
The Program in Environmental Studies (the ENV Program, for short) is designed to offer tremendous flexibility and opportunities for Princeton students interested in a range of environmental themes and concerns. Our program is interdisciplinary. It integrates knowledge and approaches across diverse disciplines including the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering.
Our program is flexible. We involve students from a range of backgrounds with as many as 25 different majors currently represented in the ENV experience. Our program offers a unique balance between traditional classroom learning and hands-on research opportunities, internships, and independent work in settings on campus and around the globe.
Finally, our program is continuously evolving to address timely and relevant issues such as oil in our energy system, genetically modified seeds in our food system, the impact of cultural influences on infectious disease, and sustainable practices in pastoral communities.
The ENV Program is your opportunity to educate yourself about the importance of environmental issues in the world in which we live. We have designed the program so you can customize it to fit your own background and interests. You may decide to give yourself a broad general background, explore the interface between science and policy, or dive deeply to explore a particular issue about which you feel most passionate.
You can study traditional ENV subjects or design a course of study that involves emerging topics and suits your own curiosity and passions. Some of our most exciting offerings have been courses proposed and designed by ENV students.
I encourage you to use the website to learn about the many exciting educational opportunities available through the ENV Program and the Princeton Environmental Institute. Please feel free to introduce yourself, to ask questions, and to challenge us with your thoughts and ideas. Most of all, we invite you to get involved!