Do you want to develop new sustainable science and engineering innovations, build sustainability consulting businesses, research climate change, create technology solutions, or embark upon related interdisciplinary careers? A BS in Sustainability Studies from Florida Tech could be right for you. Along the way, you’ll develop strong systems-thinking skills, build hands-on experience through campus and community research projects at a university started by NASA scientists, and prepare for a career in the early stages of the remarkable emergence of many sustainability initiatives.
In your junior and senior years, you’ll refine fundamental skills with specialized sustainability concentration courses that include many project opportunities. You’ll also undertake an exciting applied capstone sustainability project on a topic of your choice that can lead to greater exposure (e.g., community internships, the Northrop Grumman Design Showcase). Students gain practical experience, an enhanced résumé, and a stronger sense of scholarship—the perfect preparation for employment or graduate school.
Our sustainability degree is dynamic yet focused. You’ll get started right away, taking core courses like Introduction to Sustainability and the Whole Earth Course. Guided by highly experienced faculty who care about your success, you’ll obtain core science and business skills while specializing in your strengths and greatest interests.
By definition, sustainability studies is an interdisciplinary field, encompassing elements of all colleges and many departments on campus. The Sustainability Studies program is housed in the Department of Education and Interdisciplinary Studies, which works to integrate students among all disciplines and interests across campus. As a BS program at a major technology university, our diverse student and faculty interests focus on building sustainability innovations for the future.
The program is structured so that students closely interact with faculty from many departments in the colleges of Science, Engineering, Business, Psychology, and Liberal Arts. The diversity of these interactions and the major requirements to take concentration courses in Environmental Sciences, Technology and Engineering, Business, and Social Sciences gives our sustainability studies students expertise in all the field has to offer, as well as specialization in your preferred topics.
Internationally recognized faculty members in the five colleges on campus reflect expertise in multiple disciplines including:
Florida Tech has an extensive collection of laboratory and other research facilities available around campus for applied research in sustainability science and engineering. For example, students have access to the F.W. Olin Physical Sciences Center, a 70,000-square-foot facility that houses faculty laboratories and cutting-edge instrumentation. Two campus buildings are certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for best practices in sustainable construction, with a third pending. These buildings became LEED-certified in part via the research efforts of sustainability studies students. In addition, our Evans Library has a large array of digital and print resources on sustainability routinely runs sustainability events, and can always obtain new materials upon request.
Florida Tech is the perfect place for a BS in Sustainability Studies. The 130-acre campus is located on the Space Coast (so named because of the presence of NASA and the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral just north of us), minutes away from the Indian River Lagoon, the most diverse estuary in North America.
The area has the fifth largest high-tech workforce in the country, with more than 5,000 high-tech corporations and government and military organizations located nearby. This workforce also provides an abundance of internship and employment opportunities.
Florida Tech is just over the causeway from the Atlantic Ocean with its 72 miles of beautiful beaches, and a short trip to the Florida Keys or the Orlando theme parks. We also have a rich campus life that includes a wide range of intramural and collegiate sports, clubs, and social activities.
Beyond the classroom, sustainability majors can build leadership and professional experience through participation in organizations like the Student Organization for Sustainability Action, the Student Government Association, Alpha Phi Omega (the national community service and leadership development co-ed fraternity) and over 100 other student organizations.
Florida Tech’s Student Government Association is increasingly important in coordinating and enhancing student sustainability activities. There are many clubs active in sustainable practices, directly or indirectly. For example, the Student Organization for Sustainability Action (SOSA) is an on-campus group dedicated to the practice and implementation of sustainable best practices across the Florida Tech community. The organization strives to identify and catalyze sustainability advances throughout all colleges, campus facilities, and student support services.
Students have plenty of opportunities at Florida Tech to perform research while experiencing applied sustainability internships with corporate sustainability partners. Many students do their final capstone projects as sustainability internships off-campus with businesses, government agencies, or regional nonprofit organizations.
In addition to taking part in a sustainability internship, the sustainability studies program places a strong focus on applied senior research projects, with many examples of student project innovations on- and off-campus. A few examples include:
Undergraduate sustainability research projects can lead to sustainability internships or related experiences. Students have obtained credits for study abroad sustainability programs in countries including Australia, Iceland, Ecuador, and Hungary.
What could my career look like with a degree in Sustainability Studies, B.S.?
Whenever you decide to start looking for sustainability jobs, employers will be waiting. Florida Tech alums have been employed by companies and agencies such as:
Sustainability jobs are often compared to computer and technology jobs in the early 1990s—exciting and innovative with many new career fields that couldn’t be seen even a few years earlier.
According to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, sustainability jobs are expected to increase. Sustainability categories and employers include (according to Arizona State University, 2013):
A BS in Sustainability Studies allows you to pursue a career in many existing and emerging fields, including:
In addition to these and traditional career fields, entirely new fields have recently emerged, such as:
After receiving their sustainability degree, students are highly prepared to pursue a graduate research degree of their personal choice – either at Florida Tech or many other prestigious universities, including:
