Environmental Sciences

Explore Your Major

• Familiarize yourself with ES major requirements

• Meet with the ES major advisor to sketch out a four-year plan. 

• Talk to a peer advisor about life at Rausser College.

Connect and Build Community

• Take advantage of the Rausser Student Resource Center

• Get 1:1 mentoring with Berkeley Connect in ESPM

• Join a student group like the Environmental Sciences Student Association.

Discover Your Passions

• Discover new interests in a Freshman Seminar or DeCal course like ESPM 98.

• Learn about research opportunities for Rausser students.

• Apply for a research position through SPUR.

Engage Locally and Globally

• Attend the Calapalooza student activities fair and get involved with a student organization.

• Find service opportunities through the Public Service Center

• Explore study, internship, and research abroad options with Berkeley Study Abroad

• Engage with campus sustainability issues via the Student Environmental Resource Center.

Reflect and Plan Your Future

• Visit Berkeley Career Engagement and the Career Counseling Library.
• Develop a plan for getting career ready.

• Sign up for Handshake and CareerMail

• Check out the Environmental Sciences Career Snapshot.

Explore Your Major

• Complete lower division prerequisites and declare the major if currently undeclared. 

• Consider a minor, certificate, or course thread

• Meet with the ES major advisor if you plan to study abroad.

Connect and Build Community

• Start attending Rausser undergraduate events

• Explore ways to get involved at Rausser College through special programs and groups.

• Get to know professors and graduate student instructors during office hours.

Discover Your Passions

• Enroll in a Sophomore Seminar, Big Ideas Course or Discovery Course

• Assist faculty in their research through URAP

• Check out research by your peers at a Rausser poster session

• Consider a course thread in Humanities & Environment or Sciences and Society.

Engage Locally and Globally

• Work with a community organization in an American Cultures Engaged Scholarship course

• Experience life at another UC or college on a visitor and exchange program

• Check out the Moorea program for fieldwork opportunities abroad.

• Apply your skills in projects for the Green Initiative Fund.

Reflect and Plan Your Future

• Take advantage of career and pre-health advising for Rausser students. 

• Explore career fields through the Career Connections Series or a winter externship

• Learn about graduate and professional school. See Step-by-Step for planning help.

• Think about doing an internship and attend an internship fair.

Explore Your Major

• Complete the statistics requirement no later than the fall semester.

• Start brainstorming research topics for your senior thesis and reach out to potential faculty mentors.

• Take ESPM 100ES during the spring semester, which culminates in a proposal for your senior thesis research topic.

Connect and Build Community

• Help other students as a Rausser Peer Advisor

• Become a Golden Bear Orientation Leader and welcome new students to UC Berkeley.

• Seek mentorship from your professors, faculty, and graduate student instructors.

Discover Your Passions

• Apply for a Rausser Travel Grant to fund travel for academic conferences or research.

• Find research and funding opportunities in the Discovery database, SPUR, or URAP

• Work on energy and climate change solutions as part of the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program

• Enrich your studies with classes in other areas of academic interest.

Engage Locally and Globally

• Participate in a field science or ecology program at the UC Natural Reserve

• If interested in environmental policy, look into UCDC or Cal in the Capital

• Help youth learn about ecology and the environment through Berkeley SEEDS.

Reflect and Plan Your Future

• Conduct informational interviews

• Discuss post-graduate options with advisors and professors.

• Update your resume and LinkedIn profile.

• Attend career and graduate school fairs like the Environmental and Sustainability Career Fair.

Explore Your Major

• Take ESPM 175 and find a faculty mentor for your senior thesis.

• Do a degree check to ensure you are on track to graduate.

• Complete any “bucket list” courses and remaining major, college, and campus requirements.

• Present your research at the ES Symposium to your peers, friends, and family.

Connect and Build Community

• Join a professional association such as the National Association of Environmental Professionals or Society for Conservation Biology

• Connect with alumni groups such as the Rausser College Alumni Association and build your network as you prepare to graduate.

Discover Your Passions

• Teach your own DeCal course

• Participate in the college Honors Program

• Present your research at a poster session or submit to the Berkeley Scientific Journal

• Keep pursuing your interests through a fellowship or by taking a gap year.

Engage Locally and Globally

• Explore service opportunities after graduation, such as Peace Corps, Teach for America, or U.S. Department of State

• Attend a conference such as the Clinton Global Initiative: University Conference. Look into travel grants from the college and ASUC.

• Help farm and forest communities in California through Grizzlycorps.

Reflect and Plan Your Future

• Utilize job search tools from the Career Center.

• Ask professors and graduate student instructors for recommendation letters.

• Meet employers at Employer Info Sessions and On-Campus Recruiting

• Apply to jobs, graduate school, and other opportunities.