Support IESInstitute for the Environment & Sustainability
at Miami University
The Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES) administers 1 professional masters degree and 3 undergraduate interdisciplinary co-majors:
- Environmental Science (M.En.)
- Environmental Science (co-major)
- Environmental Principles & Practice (co-major)
- Sustainability (co-major)
It also coordinates with 5 departments in the natural sciences on a Ph.D. program to offer courses and research opportunities for graduate students:
These interdisciplinary programs train students in professional practice and research in ways that extend beyond the sciences, to include business, engineering, policy, fine arts, and education. IES addresses issues of environmental protection and human development, in addition to answering basic scientific questions.
Goals of the Institute
- Educate students for a wide range of careers in the environment and sustainability.
- Engage in practical, collaborative, interdisciplinary research to understand and improve the environment for Miami University, local, state, national, and international organizations.
- Provide leadership for education on the environment and sustainability, including graduate and undergraduate degree programs, co-curricular activities, and public outreach.
History of the Institute
The Institute of Environmental Sciences was created in 1969, in response to "the urgent need for a new program which is truly interdisciplinary in structure… and which contains a curriculum geared to train a modern environmental scientist equipped with the tools and philosophy to cope with new problems as they arise." Since the first class of students entered the M.En. program in 1971, IES has graduated more than 640 M.En. students.
In 2010, the IES was renamed the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability to reflect its new role as an umbrella institute for education and research on the environment and sustainability at Miami University at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
As was envisioned in 1969, the restructured IES will continue to "provide the student with an integrated scientific, political, and humanistic training that will allow him/her to make reasoned judgments on problems concerning… the environment."