The New York State Department of Education has approved the offering of an associate’s degree in environmental science at JCC’s Cattaraugus County Campus in Olean.
The 60-credit hour degree program prepares students to comprehend, evaluate, and analyze contemporary environmental problems at the interface of nature, human institutions, and scientific study. Interdisciplinary explorations and scientific tools and technologies essential for addressing emerging environmental challenges and opportunities are featured.
Students will explore the ethical dimensions of decisions and actions associated with being responsible local and global citizens and gain a better understanding that a more sustainable world will nurture healthier ecosystems, vibrant human communities, and stronger economies.
The degree program prepares students for transfer into numerous baccalaureate programs such as environmental science, environmental biology, natural resource management, conservation science, forest ecosystem science, fisheries and wildlife biology, natural history, and ecology.
JCC’s environmental science degree, noted Jean Schrader, dean of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, provides critical foundations for well-trained environmental scientists and citizen scientists to meet the urgent and growing environmental challenges of the 21st century and beyond.
“It is critical that humans more closely examine and understand the interdependencies among all living things,” said Schrader. “JCC students have the benefit of significant faculty expertise and rich regional natural habitats to aid their study into how human actions impact sustainability and biodiversity.”
For additional information, contact the JCC admissions office at 1.800.388.8557 or visit sunyjcc.edu/environmental-science.