Environmental Biology

Bachelor of Science / 120 Credits

Study the inner workings of living organisms as they interact with each other and with their environment in your living lab. Situated on the shores of Lower St. Regis Lake amidst forests, lakes, streams and wetlands, we’re at the heart of a 6-million-acre wilderness known as the Adirondack Park, a designated biosphere reserve that encompasses everything from boggy wetlands to alpine forests and contains large populations of plant and animal life in natural habitat.

Here, you’ll gain skills to study everything from the ecology of a natural population to analyzing DNA from a microbe. You may monitor local lakes and streams for invasive species, scour the landscape for tick-borne diseases, or study how mercury affects wildlife and human health. You will learn to identify insect species or explore what lived in our lakes thousands of years ago.

Faculty and students work as teams to conduct innovative scientific research, monitoring, and outreach aimed at preserving our rapidly-changing living world. Our students study within natural habitats and engage in environmental issues first-hand, often within walking distance of their residence halls.