Message from the Director
Welcome to WSU’s School of the Environment. This is an exciting time for us as we seek to find solutions to pressing environmental challenges while driving new and innovative research that is often at the intersection of disciplines. Finding a sustainable balance between the demand for resources and the health of people and ecosystems requires us to take a systematic approach utilizing multiple fields of study. It also requires expertise in very specific fields of research.
As a School we study subjects ranging from the planetary processes that have formed the foundation of topography, soils, rivers, streams, and wetlands to the biologic and ecologic processes that support life on earth. We also study the impacts that resource extraction, urbanization, agriculture, and energy have on landscapes, social and ecological communities.
We have exceptional research faculty and facilities at each of our five locations. From our stormwater lab in Puyallup, to our laboratory for Global Change and Biogeochemistry in Vancouver, to Pullman facilities including the Peter Hooper GeoAnalytical Lab, WSU Bear Center, and our outdoor ecological laboratory the Steffen Center, the School of the Environment provides opportunities for graduates and undergraduates to become involved in cutting edge research.
Our faculty and students also travel the world doing field research from India to Central and South America, to the Arctic. Many of our classes have labs at field sites near to our campuses and multi day field trips to sites across Washington, Oregon and Idaho to study Pacific Northwest geology, wildlife, rivers, and forests. We have several of our own study abroad opportunities including a popular summer course in Ireland. One of our new study abroad programs is planning to visit Antarctica over winter break 2024-25!
We have an exceptional community of faculty and students. Our alumni have found professional success in consulting, local, state, and federal agencies, non-profits, sustainability, urban planning, and working as staff for state and federal legislative representatives. Many of our students seek advanced degrees and have become accomplished PhD researchers.
We look forward to learning about the dreams and aspirations of our students as we help them achieve their academic, personal, and professional goals. With each student comes new ideas, ideas that will help humanity find a sustainable future.
Allyson Beall King, Director
WSU School of the Environment