Augustana College’s campus is closed Monday, March 16, due to weather conditions. This includes all athletic and evening activities, PepsiCo Recreation Center and Thomas Tredway Library.
Dining services will remain open on a regular schedule.
At Augustana, your fascination with landscapes and human-environment interactions can take you down many career paths: environmental management and protection, urban planning, community development, environmental consulting, policy and law, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartography, teaching, and more.
Augustana's major and minor in environmental studies and geography helps students understand environmental and geographic problems so they can navigate complex issues at multiple scales and begin to influence change. In the program, students use social and natural science techniques and geospatial technologies to understand key global and local issues, including climate change, sustainability, urbanization, resource management and environmental justice.
You'll take courses in biology, geology, political science, economics and sociology and anthropology. You’ll make connections between related fields throughout the liberal arts. And through your professors’ connections to community partners and resources, you’ll find career-boosting opportunities such as internships, work and field experience in the Quad-Cities metro area along the Mississippi River.
Many students complete internships with local agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or non-profit groups, such as River Action. During your senior year you'll complete a research project, choosing from three different options that fit your interests and career plans.
You’ll also embark on field trips with class groups or the whole department, investigating site-specific issues and exploring the geography of more distant places. Recent destinations include the Louisiana Gulf Coast and northern Sweden.
Augustana also offers a minor in geographic information science and technology (GIS), which focuses on skills in geospatial analysis. Students can also enroll in a 3+3 Master of Landscape Architecture coordinated degree program with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Humans live at the intersection of the natural and the built environments, and that’s why environmental studies and geography is a necessary and fast-growing field. Your passion for the environment can turn into working on solutions for the environmental challenges of the 21st century.
“I never imagined myself pursuing research, presenting at national conferences and networking with professionals in my field.”Read More
“I would like to give a special shoutout to Dr. Lashley, Dr. Jenny Arkle and Dr. Strunk, all of whom have reinforced my passion for environmental and humanitarian work.”Read More
“My peak experience was discovering and falling in love with GIS [Geographic Information Science].”Read More
Winners of the Augustana Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition will perform with the orchestra at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 14, in Augustana’s Centennial Hall. Featured soloists are Emily Churak '27, voice; Ian Empen '26, trumpet; and Dianna Hester '27, cello.
An anonymous alumna has stepped forward with a $1 million endowed gift to support Augustana’s Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship (CELTS). Once fully mature, the endowment will provide an estimated $45,000 annually to build programs that will strengthen teaching/learning for the entire Augustana community.
Making connections is the beating heart of many careers: connecting one idea with another idea, a community with a service or solution, a vision with an audience. A liberal arts education builds this ability.
