Sustainability and Coastal Resilience Major

Sustainability and Coastal Resilience is an interdisciplinary degree program that offers an in-depth undergraduate experience while teaching students to think about important issues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.  The program embraces its location to educate students about environmental issues affecting a sustainable ecosystem, as well as economic and community sustainability and resilience.

Unique to this program, students will apply knowledge and skills to the issues specifically facing coastal communities through coursework that focuses on coastal resiliency, a growing subfield in the sustainability profession. The interdisciplinary degree program allows students to design their own pathway through their major, choosing areas of study and coursework that reflect their interests, passions, and career goals.

Preparing Students for the Future

Major Requirements:

• B.A.: Business and Economics Concentration
• B.A.: Policy and Culture Concentration
• B.S.: Science and Ecosystems Concentration

Sustainability and Coastal Resilience majors work directly with real-world issues that arise in Coastal Carolina University’s surrounding coastal region, and are therefore uniquely prepared to meet the needs of companies and organizations whose day-to-day business benefits from the implementation of practices that increase sustainability and coastal resiliency.

Our students have the unique opportunity to gain real-world experience in policy development and educational outreach through their engagement with the United Nations Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development housed at Coastal in partnership with the National Estuarine Research Reserve.

A Sustainability and Coastal Resilience major will provide students with skills for the careers of the 21st Century. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 75% of companies in the United States reported at least one green technology or practice in place. It is anticipated that both the percentage of US companies and the number of sustainable technologies and practices within any given company will continue to grow. This growth in the area of sustainable business practices requires trained sustainability professionals, familiar with sustainable systems thinking, as well as the ability to speak to the integrated nature of environmental, economic, and community impacts.

Careers:

Students can pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus on either Policy and Culture or a focus on Business and Economics, leading to careers such as:

• Green Marketers
• Environmental Economists
• Sustainability Coordinators
• Urban Resilience Officers
• Sustainability-Conscious Financial Advisors
• Climate Action Analysts
• Environmental Managers
• Solar Cell Technicians
• Environmental Lawyers
• Campus Sustainability Directors
• Green Entrepreneurs

Students can pursue a Bachelor of Science degree pathway with a focus on
Science and Ecosystems, leading to careers such as:

• Conservation Scientists
• Environmental Engineers
• Urban Farmer or Food Scientists
• Urban or Regional Planners
• Green Landscape Designers
• Clean Car Engineers
• Atmospheric Scientists
• Green Builders
• Green Design Professionals
• Wind Energy Workers
• Water Quality Technicians

For more information, contact:

Keaghan Turner
Department Chair
Kearns Hall 211F
843-349-4048|  kturner@coastal.edu