AN INTERDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE MINOR IN SUSTAINABILITY TO ENHANCE THE 21ST CENTURY GEOSCIENCE WORKFORCE

Integrating knowledge of physical, built, managed, and social environments is possible through the emerging discipline of sustainability. The dominant themes of sustainability (ecology and environment, economics, social equity) are already pervasive within traditional undergraduate curricula, but are not typically ‘bundled’ to be recognized as such. Recently, the University of Arkansas developed an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in sustainability to address perceived societal demand for graduates familiar with multi-disciplinary solutions to long-term societal sustainability. The sustainability minor was organized around four thematic areas emphasizing intellectual strengths of the university: Natural Systems (physical and biological sciences), Built Systems (Architecture and Engineering), Managed Systems (Agriculture and Business), and Social Systems (Social and Political Sciences). The minor requires a 6-hour (2 course) gateway sequence (Fundamentals of Sustainability and Applications of Sustainability), 9 hours of electives chosen from a broad menu of courses in the four thematic areas, and a 3-hour capstone experience (internship, research experience, or service learning project) related directly to sustainability. The pilot offering in Fundamentals of Sustainability during spring semester 2011 enrolled 145 students across 38 academic majors representing every undergraduate-serving college at the university. Student enthusiasm for the minor remains very high; it is anticipated that the minor will enroll up to 200 students during its first full year with substantive annual growth. Thus, Geosciences programs can benefit substantially from participation in similar initiatives. Developing expertise in sustainability is a marketable skill that enhances the geoscience workforce in the 21^st Century as a burgeoning global population becomes increasingly resource-limited.