How To Prepare In High School
For A University Degree in
Environmental Studies (ENVS)




Take as many science
courses as you can:
biology, physics, chemistry, earth science,
environmental science.

AP courses in High School
will allow you to get credit for college courses
if you get good grades and
pass the AP exam with a 4 or better.
Read! Read! Read!

Periodicals
:  Newspapers, popular science
(Natural History, Scientific American,
Popular Mechanics,
National Geographic), Mother Earth News.

Classic Environmental Literature:  
A Sand County Almanac by
Aldo Leopold, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson,
Tropical Nature by Adrain Forsyth and Ken Mitjata, Walden Pond by
H. D. Thoreau, Gaia: A new look at life on Earth by James Lovelock.

Newer Environmental Literature:  An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore,  almost anything by E. O. Wilson (On Human Nature,  The Diversity of Life,  The Future of LIfe).
Take as many
math courses as you can:
algebra, geometry,
trigonometry, pre-calculus.
Volunteer:
litter pick-ups,
beach clean-ups,
conservation district.
Hone your language and writing skills:
 take 4 years of English, write for your school newspaper on environmental issues, take a foreign language (Spanish is often the most practical).

Find out what it means to
Reduce,
Reuse and Recycle, and do it.

Learn your local flora and fauna.
There are many
excellent field guides
available at your local library
and for sale at book
shops and online.

Become involved in local issues:
watershed groups, Nature Conservancy,
township meetings, garden clubs, urban planning