Mission Statement

The Mission of the Program on the Environment is to foster, promote and catalyze interdisciplinary environmental education and research at the University of Washington in the context of service to the wider community.

PoE accomplishes this mission by:

• Complementing the strengths of disciplinary units and working collaboratively with them to build an interactive network of faculty, staff and students committed to environmental education and research and the vision of a sustainable future.
• Constantly improving its University-wide Environmental Studies program for undergraduates and support of a variety of interdisciplinary environmental programs at the graduate level.
• Helping to diffuse an awareness of the environmental dimension into departmental curricula in all fields; reciprocally, drawing on the strengths of diverse disciplines to strengthen environmental curricula.
• Catalyzing the development of activities and programs that contribute to strengthening environmental education, research and community service.
• Providing a wide range of networking and communications services to the University's environmental community to help to build and promote its collective strength.
• Developing productive reciprocal relationships with the outside community centered on information, service, and opportunities for students.
• Contributing to the effort to make education at the University of Washington global in its reach.