Purpose 

The purpose of this program is to provide students with the knowledge, understanding, and tools to gain employment or to enter doctoral programs in the fields that contribute solutions to the ever growing environmental and sustainability issues in California's Central Valley and beyond. Due to a rapidly growing human population, increased water shortages, urban sprawl, habitat destruction, loss of prime agricultural land, pesticide residues and the economic framework and business practices common in the United States, our society and the Valley in particular face an urgent need for educated professionals who can develop and implement practices that ensure long-term sustainability of human and ecosystem health. As one of the world's major fruit and vegetable producers, the Central Valley has a critical need for professionals in areas such as environmental impact assessment, biotechnology, ecological informatics, bioremediation, ecotourism, restoration ecology, recreation ecology, biomonitoring, risk assessment, ecological economics, and conservation biology. Several recent surveys, both in the popular press and in science literature, predict strong and sustained employment in these areas.