Pacific Northwest Environmental Studies Program: A Collaborative Interdisciplinary Curriculum Development Project

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The Pacific Northwest Environmental Studies Program (PNESP) is an undergraduate curricular collaboration among four Pacific Northwest higher education institutions. The program addresses the need to prepare students to enter one of the region's principal growth industries, environmental technology. This academic partnership allows the participating schools to pool their resources, field work opportunities and expertise to deliver a fully-transferable two-year curriculum in more depth and with broader scope than is possible without the collaboration. The curriculum development process includes both academic year meetings and summer faculty development programs that engages faculty from all participating campuses and involves professionals from the environmental industry. Thus, the program fosters the concept of an environmental teaching, learning, and service community among the faculty, students and industry professionals. The PNESP opens an avenue of seamless transition for students from precollege programs to upper division coursework. The PNESP core courses also serve to prepare students to enter teacher education programs that are aligned with Oregon's K-12 Natural Resource Systems Certificate of Advanced Mastery. The PNESP curriculum of introductory courses and field experiences will become the core element in environmental baccalaureate, associate and certificate degree programs encompassing science, policy, technology, and engineering on the participating campuses.