Natural Resources and the Environment
The Sustainability dual major at UNH offers an interdisciplinary education focused on addressing environmental, social and economic challenges. You’ll develop knowledge and skills to promote human wellbeing and ecosystem health at local and global levels.
This flexible program can be paired with any major, preparing you to create solutions that help people and nature thrive now and in the future. Eligible students from New England (currently CT, MA, ME, RI) may qualify for a tuition discount of about $9,000 per year through the New England Tuition Break program.
*Number of courses and course credit hours may vary, please reach out to your academic advisor for exact requirements.
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Sustainability is a collective commitment to improving wellbeing and equity for all people, now and in the future, while protecting the earth’s life supporting systems we depend on. At UNH, we use the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a roadmap for building communities that are peaceful, prosperous, and healthy for people and the planet.
Students from any UNH college or major can pair the sustainability dual major with their primary major. From local to global, you’ll learn about some of today’s most pressing challenges – climate change, poverty, hunger, biodiversity loss and more – and develop the critical thinking and collaborative leadership skills you’ll need to analyze complex systems and innovate and implement promising solutions.
We believe that students learn best through real world projects, internships, and fellowships that make an impact. As a dual major, you'll have access to countless opportunities for experiential learning and will become part of a growing community of students and alumni passionate about making a difference. UNH is proud of our commitment to, and action around, sustainability and is the perfect place to get the hands-on experience you need to jumpstart your career and become an agent of change in a complex world.
You love our forests, oceans, and lakes. You care about equity and social justice. You're curious about clean energy. The sustainability dual major is a unique opportunity to enhance your impact and the value of your degree. As a science and practice, sustainability seeks solutions to our world's greatest challenges while ensuring social, economic, and environmental wellbeing at local to global scales. You can pair the dual major with any other major on campus, developing the knowledge and skills you'll need to problem-solve and create a world where people and nature can thrive – now and in the future.
All Major, Option and Elective Requirements as indicated.
*Major GPA requirements as indicated.
The dual major requires 32 credits, including core and elective courses, and a capstone experience.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the following SUST courses (in order): | ||
| SUST 401 | Exploring Sustainability | 4 |
| SUST 501 | Sustainability in Action | 4 |
| SUST 750 | Sustainability Capstone | 4 |
| Select 20 credits of elective courses 1 | 20 | |
| Total Credits | 32 | |
All SUST majors will take at least one (1) elective course from the natural & biological sciences list and at least one (1) elective course from the social science and humanities list.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| APPROVED ELECTIVE COURSES | ||
| Natural Biological Systems | ||
| AGFS 405 | Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production | 4 |
| AGFS 410 | A Taste of the Tropics | 4 |
| AGFS 502 | Agroecology | 4 |
| AGFS 632 | Urban Agriculture | 4 |
| BIOL 541W | Ecology | 4 |
| CEE 505 | Introduction to Sustainable Engineering | 3 |
| CEE 520 | Environmental Pollution and Protection: A Global Context | 4 |
| CEE 706 | Environmental Life Cycle Assessment | 3 |
| CEE 719 | Green Building Design | 3 |
| CEP 673 | Green Real Estate | 4 |
| CHEM 408 | Green Goggles: Introduction to Green Chemistry | 4 |
| ECOG 401 | Introduction to Ecogastronomy | 4 |
| ESCI 405 | Global Environmental Change | 4 |
| ESCI 409 | Geology and the Environment | 4 |
| GEOG 550 | Sub-Saharan Africa: Environmental Politics and Development | 4 |
| GEOG 560 | Natural Hazards and Human Disasters | 4 |
| GEOG 574 | Global Landscapes and Environmental Processes | 4 |
| ESCI 502 | Beaches and Coasts | 4 |
| ESCI 765 | Paleoclimatology | 3 |
| GEOG 572 | Geography of the Natural Environment | 4 |
| GEOG 670 | Climate and Society | 4 |
| HLS 580 | Environmental and Human Security | 4 |
| MARI 705 | Introduction to Marine Policy: Understanding US Ocean, Coastal and Great Lakes Policy | 3 |
| MEFB 702 | Sustainable Marine Fisheries | 4 |
| MEFB 772 | Fisheries Biology: Conservation and Management | 4 |
| NR 435 | Contemporary Conservation Issues and Environmental Awareness | 4 |
| NR 507 | Introduction to our Energy System and Sustainable Energy | 4 |
| NR 650 | Principles of Conservation Biology | 4 |
| NR 703 | Watershed Water Quality Management | 4 |
| NR 785 | Systems Thinking for Sustainable Solutions | 4 |
| NUTR 595 | Mediterranean Diet and Culture | 4 |
| NUTR 730 | From Seed to Sea: Examining Sustainable Food Systems | 4 |
| SUST 600 | Sustainability Independent Study | 1-4 |
| SUST 605 | Sustainability Internship | 1-4 |
| Social Systems & Humanities | ||
| ANTH 697 | Special Topics | 4 |
| CLAS 540A | Environment, Technology and Ancient Society: Sustaining Ancient Rome Ecology and Empire | 4 |
| CMN 540 | Special Topics in Communication (Introduction to Civil Discourse) | 4 |
| CMN 657W | Media and the Environment | 4 |
| CMN 675 | Civil Discourse Lab: Public Dialogue, Equity, & Authenticity | 2 |
| ECON 633 | Microfinance | 4 |
| ECON 706 | Economics of Climate Change | 4 |
| ENGL 736 | Environmental Theory | 4 |
| ENGL 787 | English Major Seminar | 4 |
| FIN 620 | Topics in Finance I | 4 |
| FIN 720 | Topics in Finance II (The Finance of CSR and ESG Investing ) | 4 |
| GEOG 405 | There Is No Planet B | 4 |
| GEOG 500 | Making Change: Social and Environmental Justice in Practice | 4 |
| GEOG 581 | Society, Environment and Justice | 4 |
| GEOG 673 | Political Ecology | 4 |
| GEOG 701 | Environmental Justice | 4 |
| HMP 501 | Epidemiology and Community Medicine | 4 |
| HMP 715 | Environmental Health | 4 |
| IA 401 | International Perspectives | 4 |
| INCO 505A | Becoming a Problem Solver | 4 |
| INCO 505B | Social Innovator's Toolbox | 4 |
| INCO 505I | Internship: Semester in the City (Boston) or Semester for Impact (NH) | 8 |
| MGT 755 | Global Mindset for Sustainable Business | 4 |
| MKTG 620 | Topics in Marketing (Sustainability and Marketing ) | 4 |
| NAIS 400 | Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies | 4 |
| NR 444 | The New Pirates of the Caribbean | 4 |
| NR 572 | Introduction to Natural Resource Economics | 4 |
| NR 602 | Natural Resources and Environmental Policy | 4 |
| NR 643 | Economics of Forestry | 4 |
| NR 720 | International Environmental Politics and Policies for the 21st Century | 4 |
| NR 724 | Resolving Environmental Conflicts | 4 |
| NR 784 | Sustainable Living - Global Perspectives | 4 |
| NR 787 | Advanced Topics in Sustainable Energy | 4 |
| PHIL 431 | Business Ethics | 4 |
| PAUL 670 | BiP-Analytical Intelligence Topics (B-Impact Clinic, Carbon Clinic ) | 2 |
| PHIL 450 | Environmental Ethics | 4 |
| POLT 444 | Politics and Policy in a Warming World | 4 |
| POLT 548 | Drug Wars | 4 |
| PSYC 760W | Ecopsychology | 4 |
| RMP 511 | Issues of Wilderness and Nature in American Society | 4 |
| SC 680 | Global Supply Chain Management | 4 |
| SOC 444A | Honors/Society in the Arctic | 4 |
| SOC 450 | Contemporary Social Problems | 4 |
| SOC 565 | Environment and Society | 4 |
| SOC 665 | Environmental Sociology | 4 |
| SOC 693 | Global Change and Social Sustainability | 4 |
| SOC 730 | Communities and the Environment | 4 |
| SUST 600 | Sustainability Independent Study | 1-4 |
| SUST 605 | Sustainability Internship | 1-4 |
| SW 440A | Honors/Healthy Communities: Environmental Justice and Social Change | 4 |
| WGS 505 | Survey in Women's Studies | 4 |
| WGS 798W | Colloquium | 4 |
A dual major can ONLY be a second major; students must have a primary major in a department or discipline before adding a dual major. Dual majors have fewer requirements than a double or second major, but more required credits than a minor.
Be a part of a vibrant, committed, and diverse community that will help you:
As an interdisciplinary field of study and practice, you’ll make connections across issues of science and ethics, policy and technology, and culture and history to better understand and take action on the pressing issues of our time. You might explore:
Before you enroll, you need to have a primary major declared and a minimum GPA of 2.5.
When you’re ready to enroll, sign into WebCat and go to:
> Student Records
> Change of Major
> 2nd major
> Liberal Arts
> Sustainability / BS
* Note that it may take one to two weeks to get final approval from the Dean's office and show up on your records.
Students enrolled in the Sustainability Dual Major may be eligible to receive a tuition discount equal to about $8000/year through the New England Tuition Break program. If you are from a New England state that does not have a sustainability undergraduate major (currently CT, MA, ME, and RI), you will automatically qualify for this discount when you enroll in the SDM.
Please note that you must first:
1) declare a primary major; and
2) demonstrate a 2.5 GPA to declare a dual major which means you cannot enroll in the SDM until your second semester.
Please note: This process is for students who want to petition for an elective course to be counted toward the SDM. If a student wants to petition for a course to substitute for one of the core courses, it must be approved by the entire University Committee for the Sustainability Dual Major (UCSDM) and will undergo much greater scrutiny.
Faculty who would like to have a course pre-approved as an SDM elective, please:
