Curriculum Committee

We rely upon a committee of faculty from the two colleges offering the major to foster engagement from other faculty and students in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). The committee does this by:

  • Identifying and reaching out to new Cornell faculty whose work and interests focus on environment and sustainability issues
  • Incorporating new courses into our curriculum
  • Being alert to environment and sustainability issues of emerging interest to students and society at large

Fundamentally, the committee helps connect the Environment & Sustainability program director and staff to practices and initiatives throughout the supporting colleges and beyond. Committee members do this by working in multiple departments and colleges to advocate that environment and sustainability issues remain a central focus of the Cornell University community of students, staff and faculty. This reflects Cornell's Core Value of "Respect for the Natural Environment."

Programs such as ours must be nimble, alert and flexible to new opportunities and new challenges to be relevant to contemporary issues. Programs are established by people in an institutional and cultural context; these programs can become innovative or stale, depending on the commitment and level of engagement of those involved. Our faculty oversight committee led by the E&S director is active and focused on providing students with a creative, high quality education.

Six committee members oversee concentrations (noted in parentheses) in the major:

Five committee members represent additional Cornell perspectives (home department noted, TBD for 2024-2025 Academic Year):


The committee is led by E&S Faculty Director Matthew Hare (Natural Resources and the Environment).