Environmental Data Science Bachelor's Degree

Sustainable solutions and forest management at your fingertips. Be a part of the climate solution using data and advanced technologies to inform decisions. Be what tomorrow needs with a Bachelor of Science in environmental data science at Michigan Tech. 

If you want to make a difference to the environment but have a greater passion for computing or mathematics, the environmental data science program will make you feel at home. Gain the fundamentals of ecological science with computational and analytical skills to make informed decisions about environmental issues. This technical knowledge will be grounded in an understanding of biophysical sciences, as well as skills such as computer science and statistics.

Other schools own forests—but ours is right out the back door at the Ford Center and Forest. There isn't a better place to study natural resources than the wild Keweenaw Peninsula, bordered by Lake Superior, blanketed with forests and wetlands (and 218+ inches of snow each winter). First-year students have two outdoor field labs and are all eligible to participate and be paid as Earn and Learn students, acquiring the hands-on knowledge and experience to land a summer job or internship after their first year.

What is Environmental Data Science?

Environmental Data Science is the study of large scale environmental data using statistics, modeling, and analysis to help fix real world problems like climate change. 

Environmental Data Science is about exploring interrelationships related to the natural environment, drivers of ecosystem processes, and the tools to understand the data that describe land, water, air, and biodiversity. You’ll use scientific processes to analyze information from data that was once unstructured, creating useful, clear facts that can be used to sustain the environment. Understand the fundamentals of ecological science, as well as the computational and analytical skills to manage and visualize data, then draw inferences from it that will address environmental challenges. 

What Will I Study?

Study programming, databases, environmental sustainability, geographic information systems, soil science, regression analysis, spatial statistics, and biotechnology. Fieldwork, teamwork, leadership, and professional development prepare you to model, analyze, compare, communicate and deploy tools and techniques used to understand large environmental data sets, biodiversity drivers, hydrological development, and climate change. 

• Explore, measure, document, and analyze the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Bordered by Lake Superior, blanketed with forest and wetlands, our backyard is an ideal living lab.
• Be a part of land-use decisions to enhance ecosystem composition, structure, and function.
• Collaborate with leading scientists to solve ecological and environmental problems.
• Learn how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and be proficient in GPS, land measurement and remote sensing skills.
• Put your newfound skills and knowledge to work ASAP. After the first year of classes you'll be qualified to find a summer job or internship in your field and start building your future career.

Concentrations

Choose an area that you are passionate about. You will specialize in one of four tracks to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on Global Change Science, Environmental Statistics, Geospatial Information Science, or Genomics and Bioinformatics. 

Global Change Science

Complete classes on the science of climate change, wildland fire, biogeochemistry, biodiversity loss, and land use change. Take team based classes in data management and learn about the communication necessary between life scientists and computer scientists. 

Environmental Statistics

Take courses that cover experimental design, hypothesis testing, and data collection and analysis as it pertains to environmental research and policy. Gain a greater understanding in mathematics and predictive modeling. 

Geospatial Information Science

Learn from courses such as remote sensing, python programming and spatial statistics. Collect geospatial data, analyze and visualize information by using mapping. Use physics to learn how systems like LiDAR are relevant to remote sensing technologies. 

Genetic Applications in Data Science

Complete courses that explore the role of the environment on genetic structure, evolution, and adaptation. Explore gene expression and bioinformatics. 

Be Career Ready

As humans continue to value sustainable ethics, tomorrow’s environmental data scientists will hold the answers for land management decisions and sustainable solutions. 

Data that has always contributed to these understandings is now being created at an astonishing pace. This large stream of data presents enormous opportunities for advancing our understanding of some of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. 

Each year, the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science hosts its own Natural Resource Career Fair. ~20 companies from across the US travel to the college in late fall to educate and recruit employees.