Stony Brook University to offer new climate sciences major, as student demand and job prospects grow

At a time when President Donald Trump has dismissed climate change, calling it a “hoax,” local colleges and universities are betting big on the future of finding scientific solutions to rising seas and worsening storms. 

Long Island’s largest higher educational institution, Stony Brook University, is launching a new undergraduate major in climate sciences this fall, aiming to help students understand the scientific, social and economic impacts of environmental change and prepare for so-called "green" careers.

Rockville Centre’s Molloy University revamped its earth and environmental science major in 2023, making it more focused on the science of climate change. A National Science Foundation grant provides scholarships and helps students land stipend-funded internships and coastal restoration research opportunities at Molloy and also at Adelphi University in Garden City.

In addition, Adelphi has a new agreement this year with Suffolk County Community College that allows SCCC students who earn associate degrees in marine biology to matriculate as juniors in Adelphi’s environmental science program.

It might seem like a less-than-auspicious time for the new programs, with Trump recently dismissing the scientists who had been working on the National Climate Assessment, a congressionally mandated report on how climate change is affecting the country. The previous report, in 2023, found an increase in major storms and other impacts.

And the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, former Long Island congressman Lee Zeldin, said in March that his agency’s mission is to “lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home and running a business,” a shift from its previous focus on addressing climate change and other, more traditional environmental goals.

Despite those headwinds, though, local educators and students expressed conviction, and in some cases optimism, about the importance of continued research and other work in the field.

“When people ask, ‘What are you sustaining?’ Well, maybe the answer is civilization,” said Sharon Pochron, a professor in Stony Brook’s sustainability studies program.

'Students want to be involved'

The most recent data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, released last year, showed that environmental scientists and specialists were expected to see a faster-than-average job growth of 7% by 2033, with median pay of about $80,000.

At Stony Brook, university officials said one of the factors in their decision to launch the new interdisciplinary climate science program was growing interest among students. Enrollment has jumped nearly 80% over the last decade in the university’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences undergraduate and graduate programs, with an even sharper rise in the number of students majoring in environmental studies, the largest major at SoMAS with nearly 180 students last fall, university figures show.

That mirrors a nationwide trend, with the number of undergraduate degrees conferred in agriculture and natural resources — a category that includes conservation and environmental science — rising from about 23,500 in 2006 to 41,925 in 2021, the most recent federal figures show.

Across the nation, colleges and universities are taking note. Columbia University is launching a new Master of Science in Climate program this fall. The University of Chicago’s new climate and sustainable growth major will accept its first students this fall. And the University of Texas in Austin kicked off its bachelor’s program in climate system science last fall.

“The impacts of climate change continue to become more and more obvious,” said Julian Dautremont, director of programs at the Philadelphia-based Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. “Students want to be involved in helping to understand and solve these kind of problems, and so academic programs like those focused on climate science do seem to attract continuing student interest.”

In addition to the new major, Stony Brook — the anchor institution for the New York Climate Exchange, an international research and educational center under development on Governors Island — has been hiring faculty who concentrate on climate and energy issues and has added programs such as a new one-credit “pop-up” climate class and a student-run debate focused on environmental issues, provost Carl Lejuez said. “These are areas that students care deeply about,” he said.

Kevin Reed, Stony Brook’s associate provost for climate and sustainability programming, said a big focus at the university "historically has been… helping to solve the environmental challenges that New York faces. The climate is now one of those, and so now is the time to help create the workforce that can do that.”

Earth worms and carbon dioxide

The new interdisciplinary bachelor of science program at Stony Brook combines elements of its existing atmospheric sciences and sustainability studies majors.

In the sustainability program, Pochron teaches a sought-after “worm lab” course, where students design and conduct their own research studies using earthworms. One of her projects involves testing whether a tiny aquatic fern called azolla could be used to reduce levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the air.

Among her students is Daniella Rupert, 19, a sophomore who hopes to research biodegradable medical equipment as she prepares for a career as an emergency room doctor.

“I've always been aware of the impacts of pollution and various contaminants on the environment, and I really wanted to help,” she said.

Her classmate Harrison Bohrer, 20, a junior majoring in environmental studies, also is working on the azolla experiments.

“There's kind of three ways to look at climate change: adaptation, mitigation and … reversing,” Bohrer said. “It's getting harder and harder as the years go on to try to reverse it, but this would be an example of how we're able to mitigate the effects.”

While it remains to be seen how much federal funding will be available for climate research, experts expressed hope that there will be continued opportunities for environmental work.

"It does seem that it's going to be scarce times for funding from the federal government around climate research," said Dautremont. "But that doesn't mean it's not happening.”

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.