Environmental & Life Science Majors
Biology
Research, field work, and the prerequisites for advanced degrees in the life sciences.
Ecology
Examine "the economy of nature" from bottom to top
Earth Science
Climate change and water resources are two of our most critical environmental challenges.
Natural Resource Management
Attack environmental challenges head-on managing human interaction with the natural world.
Challenging Coursework + Original Research
Build the foundation
Evolution. The relationship between structure and function. The chemistry and physics driving organisms and ecosystems. Ways of analyzing and modeling complex systems. Explore the core scientific concepts on which our understanding of the physical world is based, from single molecules to full-blown ecosystems.
Think like a scientist
Dive into inquiry and research from your first classes. In small classes, labs, and field courses, and in doing your own research, you will be challenged to find evidence, evaluate its reliability, and use it to draw conclusions and make sound decisions.
Learn statistics analyzing messy real-life data from available online data sets and original surveys. Practice professional techniques using our impressive collection of field and lab equipment. Develop effective scientific communication and collaboration skills – science is a team effort.
Bring it all together completing an original senior research project or professional internship tailored to your scientific interests and professional goals.
The Most Beautiful Lab on Earth
The spectacular Lake Tahoe Basin is our classroom – even lab exercises often require sunscreen, hat, and waders or snowshoes. In field courses, students explore a new environment with an instructor, learning about the ecosystem, collecting data, living and breathing the course content.
In the Tahoe Meadows
Lake Tahoe from the Mt. Rose Highway
At Lake Tahoe’s Hidden Beach
Sustainability Matters
Commitment to sustainability – environmental, social, and economic – is embedded in our DNA here at SNU.
As scientists, we promote a deep appreciation of the natural world in all its complexity. Our students build on a strong foundation of courses in the basic sciences and scientific analysis with field courses and original research that take full advantage of our amazing location.
Students do internships with the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, just upstairs from the SNU science Department, and with USFS, USGS, state parks, Desert Research Institute, medical practitioners, ranches, mines, CA & NV wildlife organizations, and environmental planning firms.
We have held field courses in the Desolation Wilderness, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Death Valley, Rogue River whitewater, Mono Lake and Yosemite, Monterey Bay, and even Belize and South Africa.
Beyond Tahoe
“The Ecology of Capetown”: South Africa, June 2015
Table Mountain
Shark Diving!
Approaching the Cape of Good Hope
Our Students say it Best
Tommy DiPaola
Class of 2019
After exploring some lab science, it became clear to me that I want to explore biological science in the field! My most influential experiences at SNC have all been in the wild, those moments where you look around and realize "there's no where I would rather be than here." Read More
Ashley Vander Meer
Class of 2014
In the fall of 2012, I worked on the restoration of Rosewood Creek for my service learning. The main cause of the restoration is to reduce sediment loading into Lake Tahoe by restoring a 7,200 foot section of Rosewood Creek between Northwood Boulevard and Tahoe Boulevard in Incline Village, Nevada.Read More
Makenzie O'Connor
Class of 2016
I began my experience at SNC with a Yosemite backpacking trip, and immediately felt connected to the world in an entirely different way. For my senior research methods course, I designed a study to research the effects of climate on soil denitrification in wetlands of the Sierra Nevada. Denitrification is an incredibly important ecological process, and it hasn't been studied in Sierra mountain environments!Read More