Balance Environmental Studies with Green Business Practices

Put your passion for protecting the environment on a sound green business foundation as you prepare for a career in the new green economy. Explore and learn on our unique coastal campus, situated on 540 acres, including coastline, riverbanks, woodlands, wetlands, dunes, and vernal pools. Through highly collaborative and interdisciplinary study, you’ll discover how to combine and balance environmental studies, ecological economics, social, and financial concepts as we work together to create a more sustainable world.

Three students work on a business project in the Makerspace
A group of students listen to a professor in a classroom

Why UNE for Your Bachelor of Science Degree in Sustainability and Business

“Innovation for a Healthier Planet” is more than just a tagline at the University of New England.

Our commitment to the environment and our dedication to out-of-the-box thinking makes UNE the ideal place to earn your Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainability and Business. With our electric car charging stations, sustainable landscaping, green living wall, Edible Campus Initiative, and Green Revolving Fund, we celebrate a University-wide commitment to green business practices. In your Bachelor of Science degree at UNE, you’ll experience courses like environmental studies and ecological economics first-hand with an innovative education that includes:

  • Green Learning Community for first-year students
  • Marine Science Center with aquaponics, aquaculture, and fisheries lab
  • Kelp farming research
  • Makerspace for innovative ideation and prototyping
8

number of times UNE was ranked among the most environmentally responsible colleges

The Princeton Review (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Portrait of Abbie Anderson

Abbie Anderson ’23

Sustainability and Business

Why UNE

UNE had the best program for what I was interested in. Most other schools that I toured didn't have a sustainability in business program — it was either just business or just environmental. The fact that UNE had the two combined was a huge factor for me.

What’s nice about my environmental classes is that they are so applied. I get a broad understanding of environmental problems but also how to apply them in a business sense. UNE is really setting me up to be able to do whatever I want.

My professors have been awesome so far. My advisor has been amazing as far as helping me with classes and setting me up with other professors that have similar interests as I do. It’s really helpful that he will suggest classes that he thinks I enjoy. I have nothing but positive things to say about the faculty at UNE. I feel like at bigger colleges, you kind of get lost in the numbers,  [UNE] feels like a family when I'm there and not just like I'm lost in the crowd.

Beyond the Classroom

During my first year, I was in the Green Learning Community (GLC), which was super cool because I got to meet all of the environmental majors. That experience exposed me to different points of view and the different aspects of the environmental field, which I loved. We went on a lot of retreats and trips, so I got to meet people in the field and go out and see new things.

It’s really nice because you meet people with similar values as you. We all get to go out in the environment together. As I’ve gone through my classes since, I’ve had a lot of the same classmates. It’s nice to be able to grow and learn with the same people. We talk about environmental problems that we’ve discussed in classes. We are able to bounce ideas off each other. We can dream solutions for the future. Making connections like that with like-minded people is so valuable.

What’s nice about my environmental classes is that they are so applied. I get a broad understanding of environmental problems but also how to apply them in a business sense.

Sustainability and Business

What Will You Study? Sustainability and Business Degree Curriculum Overview

There are many ways you can navigate this major. The following are some examples of the exciting courses that the Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainability and Business offers:

  • Sustainability and Ecological Restoration
  • Climate Change Adaptation: Planning and Policy
  • Environmental Movements and Social Change
  • Ecological Economics
  • Management of Nonprofits
  • Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Green Learning Community

First-year Business, Communications, Sport Leadership and Management, and Marine Entrepreneurship majors can participate on a competitive basis in the Green Learning Community (GLC). The GLC is an intentional community of professors and first-year students dedicated to studying human relations to the environment through many ways of knowing. You will study environmental issues through the integrated lenses of biology, literature, environmental studies, and economics.

Career Paths for Sustainability and Business Degree Grads

Perhaps you’re an aspiring green entrepreneur, or maybe you’re interested in the management of corporate sustainability practices. Wherever your aspirations take you, you’ll graduate with the knowledge, internship experiences, analytical skills, and ethical grounding you need to have a successful career combining business and sustainability. Relevant professions include:

  • Chief Sustainability Officer
  • Green Business and Corporate Manager
  • LEED Certified Construction Manager
  • Green or Sustainable Entrepreneur
  • Sustainability Program Developer
  • Environmental Public Affairs Officer
  • Community Economic Development Manager

Career Advising for Sustainability and Business Majors

Whether you have a specific career goal in mind or a vague idea of the field that interests you, Career Advising is here to help you plan your next step.

Innovative Makerspace Facilities for Sustainability and Business Degree Seekers

The P.D. Merrill Makerspace is a fully equipped laboratory for creating and building, turning ideas into reality, and developing sustainable solutions to real-world problems. Whether you come to the Makerspace as part of an environmental studies or ecological economics class, as a student researcher or innovator, or just for fun, the Makerspace has something to offer every student — regardless of program or major.

Watch: UNE Students in the Makerspace

Using Drones in Research through the University of New England Makerspace

Makerspace Helps Students Get Maine Lighthouse Off the Grid

Solving real-world problems in UNE’s Makerspace

Experiential Learning in Sustainability and Business

The Sustainability and Business degree at UNE provides hands-on learning, both in and out of the classroom, to give you real-world experiences and the confidence to make a difference.

  • Use the latest technologies in the Makerspace, such as 3D printers and CNC routers
  • Apply learning to actual environmental problems as part of the first-year Green Learning Community
  • Conduct research on sustainable products, such as aquaponically grown vegetables and farmed shiitake mushrooms

An Internship Story

2022 Student Innovation Showcase

Beyond the Classroom

  • Participate in UNE’s Student Innovation Challenge, a University-wide idea-stage competition
  • Intern on campus at UNE’s Office of Sustainability or off campus at various aquaculture farms and fisheries or other institutions, including:
    • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    • Gulf of Maine Research Institute
    • Manomet U360: Economic System
    • New England Aquarium
    • Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
    • Wells National Estuarine Reserve

B.S. in Sustainability and Business FAQ

For more information contact Program Director Jeremy Pare at jpare@a220149.com.