Minor in Environmental Studies

The Minor in Environmental Studies (ENV Minor) is designed for Princeton undergraduates who are interested in the scientific, political, humanistic, and/or technological dimensions of environmental problems and who wish to demonstrate proficiency in Environmental Studies. Students from all academic disciplines are eligible  to participate.

Students in the ENV Minor are required to satisfy the course and research criteria below. Requirements and course offerings also are published annually in the Princeton Undergraduate Announcement. Find more information on academic Areas of Study at Princeton.

 Course Structure

Students must take five qualifying courses for the ENV minor. Only courses included in the ENV Minor: Qualifying Courses page will be accepted.

Of the five courses:

• At least two must be foundational courses. The remaining three courses can be either foundational or elective courses.
• At least three courses must be taken at the 300 level or higher.
• At least two courses must be in Humanities and/or Social Sciences, and two must be in Natural Sciences and/or Engineering.
• A maximum of one course may also be counted toward the student’s departmental major or another minor/certificate.
• All courses must be taken on a fully graded basis (i.e., no PDF) and graded as C or higher.

Students are encouraged to complete a 200-level ENV foundational course prior to declaring the minor. Students are also encouraged to meet with the Director of the Program in Environmental Studies or Undergraduate Program Manager to choose an appropriate sequence of courses.

Independent Work

Students must investigate an environmental topic as a component of their independent work, which can take one of four forms:

• a substantial part (e.g., a chapter) of their senior thesis.
• a junior paper submitted to fulfill departmental requirement; supervising faculty needs to attest to its ENV focus.
• a 15-20pp final report based on work done (at any stage of their undergrad career) during an HMEI internship supervised by a PU faculty. The supervising faculty must review and sign off on the paper as being of sufficient quality to satisfy an independent paper requirement (e.g., a JP).
• a 15-20pp independent paper approved by an HMEI or HMEI-affiliated faculty.

In all these instances, when the supervising faculty is uncertain about whether the environmental focus is sufficient to satisfy the minor requirement, the student should reach out to the ENV program director to obtain approval before embarking on the work.

Click here for an archive of ENV senior theses organized by year.

Additional Requirements

Students are required to participate in a capstone series of ~2 events in their senior year. Students pursuing the ENV Minor are also required to participate in HMEI’s annual Discovery Day poster show in the spring of their senior year, in which they share with fellow students, faculty and staff the motivation, methodology, and final results of their independent research.

Students may declare the minor as early as the spring of their sophomore year but no later than fall semester of junior year. To pursue a Minor in Environmental Studies, please complete the ENV Minor Enrollment Form. Once submitted, you will be contacted by e-mail to schedule an appointment with the ENV Program Director or Meaghan Tohill to discuss your program of study.