The Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability

The Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability (ESS) prepares you to integrate the latest ecosystem science into the real-world sustainable management of our natural resources.

Learn about the challenges humans face in sustainably managing ecosystem services and the amazing ways in which organisms interact with their environments to form complex ecosystems.

Collaborate with some of the world’s leading ecosystem and sustainability scientists and explore solutions to global problems related to water resources, food supplies, energy, greenhouse gas management, land use change, climate change, and environmental justice.

Our affiliation with CSU’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, with a 45-year history of world-class ecosystem research, provides opportunities to gain hands-on research experience while developing solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.

Learn more about our undergraduate degrees and explore our graduate degrees in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability and Watershed Science, as well as a variety of professional certificates.

Opportunities to join in internships, practical and team exercises, and field experiences in the beautiful Rocky Mountains combine with an outstanding classroom education to build a solid foundation for applying sustainable resource management principles.