Community Engagement
Connections to Other Educational Programs
An important component of this program will be links to Interdisciplinary Programs at UCD. Exceptional undergraduate students will be encouraged to engage in independent research through collaboration with doctoral students and faculty mentors. This will create opportunities for students to experience the joys and challenges of research, and to create an area of specialization within their undergraduate career thus providing them both stronger employment opportunities and focus for graduate training.
The undergraduate program in sustainability will also link to existing masters-level and PhD programs in Anthropology (Political Ecology and Sustainable Development), the Society and the Environment Track in the Interdisciplinary Masters of Social Science and the Masters in Environmental Sciences, Engineering [UCD Center for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (CSIS), Business (Managing for Sustainability MBA) and Architecture and Planning.
Community Connections and Collaborations
Issues of sustainability are especially salient to us here in Colorado where nature and ecotourism make up such a large part of our economy. Coloradans’ commitment to sustainability and environmental issues is evident in our support for renewable energy, mass transit, and other progressive environmental legislation. It is no coincidence that Wal-Mart opened one of its first ‘green stores’ in Aurora.
This context presents numerous opportunities for collaboration with community groups on issues from water rights in the San Luis Valley to environmental racism in Front Range cities, providing both ample internship and research opportunities with non-profit groups, private enterprise and government agencies.
Denver and the Front Range are home to private (e.g. CH2MHill) and government (e.g., EPA-Region 8, NCAR, City of Denver, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service) entities directly involved in issues of sustainability providing a host of opportunities for internships, research and employment.