Established in 1994, the PhD in the Department of Environmental Studies at UCSC emphasizes close faculty-student interactions, department-wide intellectual exchange, and cross-discipline innovation. The goal of our Ph.D. program is to develop exceptional individuals with strong foundations in their own fields, and the ability to work with those in other relevant specialties.

The program draws from two main areas: ecology and social science. These are historically independent fields and UCSC's Environmental Studies program is one of the first to link them.

Graduates of the Environmental Studies Doctoral Program at UC Santa Cruz are expected to be informed in conservation biology, global change ecology, agroecology, environmental policy, and political economy of the environment. Our students have deep intellectual strength in their area of specialty, and make substantial contributions toward the understanding of an environmental problem.

PhD Learning Outcomes

There are four Program Learning Outcomes for the Ph.D. in Environmental Studies, which are also published in the ENVS Graduate Student Handbook. Students graduating with a doctorate in Environmental Studies should be able to:

✔ Participate productively in interdisciplinary scholarly endeavors and environmental problem solving. (interdisciplinarity)

✔ Develop advanced mastery of content and practices of the academic areas that directly inform their scholarly work. (disciplinary depth)

✔ Conduct exemplary, transformative research in environmental studies. (research)

✔ Communicate clearly about their scholarly work and teach effectively at the university level. (communication)