Students with environmental studies majors develop the ability to formulate concepts allowing them to solve practical problems and to find better ways of meeting world needs. Such skills are applicable to job responsibilities in a variety of fields such as the sciences, business, government, and education. For example, the ability to conduct investigations and to perform analyses may be employed differently on a daily basis by a college administrator, a genetic engineer, a curator of a natural history museum, and a teacher. The following list presents some examples of the skills developed and used by students in environmental studies.

Analysis

• Summarizing research findings
• Attending to details
• Analyzing data
• Testing hypotheses
• Developing theories
• Clarifying problems
• Identifying relationships between problems/solutions
• Reasoning by analogy
• Perceiving patterns/structures
• Applying logic to problems
• Evaluating data and results

Investigation

• Remaining objective
• Reviewing relevant data
• Applying concepts
• Utilizing formulas
• Gathering information
• Observing carefully
• Asking questions
• Designing experiments
• Applying knowledge creatively
• Defining problems
• Assessing risks

Communication

• Writing for technical and non-technical audiences
• Organizing and reporting data
• Designing charts/graphs
• Informing/explaining
• Reporting results and conclusions orally and in writing

Technical

• Processing data
• Solving quantitative problems
• Calculating
• Tabulating data
• Sampling for surveys
• Using laboratory equipment
• Maintaining precision and accuracy
• Using computers for computation/simulation