After two years as a chemical engineering major, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science senior Robert Pickering decided to pursue his passion for the environment and switch to environmental engineering.
Pickering is one example of a student following a trend that admissions directors have seen grow at Northwestern, especially this fall. As of late August, there was a 280 percent growth in the number of declared environmental engineers – up from five students last year to 19 in 2009 – making it the major with the largest percentage gain at NU this year.
The rise in environmental engineering majors can be attributed to the increased interest in the environment, energy and sustainability in America, said Stephen H. Carr, professor and associate dean of Undergraduate Engineering of McCormick.
“The American dinner table conversation has been more focused on environmental issues in the last several years,” Carr said. “Even the last presidential campaign had more discourse about the environment. People are more aware that it’s more crucial.”
NU also recently joined a consortium of four universities, including the University of Washington, the University of British Columbia and the University of California at Irvine to build an online certificate program focused on sustainability, climate change, environmental studies, and the role of business and government in decreasing their role in global warming.
Pickering said the green movement has contributed to the increase, which influenced his own switch to environmental engineering. There is currently a “huge influx” of jobs available in sustainability, renewable energy, and conservation, he said.
“Environmental engineering opens a lot of doors,” Pickering said. “Environmental engineering is a way you can learn some of the technical aspects of the field so that we can apply those to get our foot in the door in the environmental world.”
Whereas specific majors have elicited more interest from students – sociology, secondary teaching and legal studies follow environmental engineering as the most popular majors – the six NU schools across the board have not undergone any significant shifts in enrollment, said Mike Mills, associate provost for University Enrollment.
