Academics Colby was a pioneer in the introduction of environmental programs in the early 1970s and continues its environmental leadership, offering rigorous and distinctive academic programs. Campus Sustainability and Resource Conservation are stated core values at Colby.The number of majors in the Environmental Studies Program grew from five in 1995 to approximately 80 in 2008. Projects undertaken by students in the ES program have provided much of the momentum for sustainability initiatives that make Colby a green leader. State of the art facilities, including a new building for interdisciplinary studies and social sciences, support the academic program.The mission of the Program in Environmental Studies is to provide our students with an interdisciplinary, liberal arts education. We strive to present students with a positive learning environment that encourages creative, responsible, interdisciplinary independent thinking. We do this through lecture, seminar, laboratory, and fieldwork as well as through opportunities for collaborative research, off-campus internships, and study abroad. The Environmental Studies curriculum provides our students with both breadth and depth of training in the discipline and emphasizes the relationship between humans and the environment. Faculty and staff associated with the program are committed to excellence in teaching, student advising, scholarship, service to the college, and to community outreach.
Colby offers major programs in environmental science with an emphasis in one of three departments/programs—biology, chemistry, and environmental studies. Each program prepares students for a role as educated citizens in a world increasingly confronted with environmental problems, as well as for entry-level positions in firms or government agencies dealing with these problems, or for graduate work in related areas.
The Environmental Studies Program is centered in the LEED-certified Diamond Building, which includes a state-of-the-art GIS lab staffed by a GIS and quantitative analysis specialist, a multimedia-equipped ES seminar room, research offices for ES students working on honors theses, and offices for ES faculty and the ES programs coordinator. The Keyes Building and Olin Science Center include teaching and research labs, greenhouses, and data-analysis facilities. Environmental programs are supported by the Olin Science Library. The Green House is an environmental themed dorm on campus, and students maintain an on-campus organic garden. The 128-acre Perkins Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary is part of the campus and the Colby-Marston Preserve is a College-owned research bog in Belgrade Lakes, and many courses used these natural areas and other of Maine's unique natural resources. Colby's campus is within an hour of the Appalachian Trail and an hour from the Atlantic Ocean. Civic engagement and service learning programs ensure opportunities for students to engage environmental initiatives community and the state. Colby’s 714-acre campus is an ideal living laboratory for studying the environment and practicing sustainability—in the 128-acre arboretum and wildlife sanctuary on campus, on additional properties in the Belgrade Lakes including a kettle bog for research, and throughout the state.
Last Updated: 8/12/09 4:06 PM
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