Coming Fall 2025, the departments of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences (GSS) and Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES), along with the Environmental Sciences program, will combine in a new School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability to build on and strengthen the areas of climate, environmental, and sustainability science and policy at the University of Iowa.

Are you interested in building a more sustainable world for future generations? Gain the knowledge and skills needed to adapt and flourish in a rapidly changing world in order to work toward a better tomorrow. The sustainability science major at UI is built on an integrative curriculum, with coursework in the social, natural, and analytical disciplines, thereby providing students with the knowledge and skills needed to help build a more sustainable future in Iowa, the United States, and around the world.

Sustainability Science graduates will be able to:

• Address complex problems emerging from growing populations and increasingly stressed resources
• Understand the complex processes that connect humans to natural systems
• Analyze the potential impact of decisions given competing information, perceptions, and goals
• Communicate the importance of sustainability science and management to leaders and the public

Issues you will address:

• Climate change
• Access to sufficient food
• Clean water
• Healthy air
• Safe and reliable energy
• Long-term economic well-being
• Equity and justice
• Responsibility to other species
• Conflict over limited resources 

Classes you will take:

• The Global Environment 
• Environmental Economics and Policy
• Environmental Communication
• Environmental Justice
• Urban Ecology
• Foundations of GIS
• Water Resources
• U.S. Energy Policy in Global Context

*Classes listed are examples of courses offered to meet major requirements.

Majoring in Sustainability Science (B.S.) will prepare you to meet the growing demand for students trained to work toward a better tomorrow.

The Sustainability Science program cultivates students who are foward thinking, able to envision a future with equity, high environmental quality, and economic opportunity, and are equipped to work towards that future. A sustainable world encompasses human and ecological health, social justice, and secure livelihoods for all generations, now and in the future. Through a sustainability lens, managers recognize and seek to support the interdependency of these systems. Sustainability science is, therefore, the study of complex interacting processes that operate across time and space and directly impact the long-term well-being of humankind. Studying this challenging science prepares students to enter a world that increasingly recognizes and prioritizes sustainable outcomes.

For more information, check out the information page on the Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences website.