Florida Tech Goes Greener with New Minor in Sustainability

MELBOURNE, FLA.—This fall Florida Institute of Technology will offer its undergraduate students the opportunity to minor in Sustainability. No matter their major, any student wishing to learn sustainable practices and enhance marketability may complete credits for a minor in this increasingly critical discipline.

“There is a pressing need to create a sustainable future and an increasing number of undergraduate programs in sustainability nationwide,” said program director Richard Aronson, head of the Florida Tech Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science.

Students will begin their coursework with the class, Introduction to Sustainability, taught by Ken Lindeman, research professor in the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems, College of Engineering. One course each is required in the general, cross-disciplinary areas of ecology/environmental science, economics, technology and social sciences/humanities. Eighteen to 20 credits are required. More information on the courses or the Minor in Sustainability is available at http://cos.fit.edu/sustainability.

Aronson adds, “There are more jobs opening in sustainability and research funding is also becoming more available.”

Sustainability may be defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.”

Since 2005, Florida Tech has been part of a collaboration in sustainability with Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). The universities alternate holding annual sustainability forums that feature scientists from around the world delivering presentations on key, interdisciplinary aspects of the topic. It will again be Florida Tech’s turn March 8-9, 2011, when it hosts an international forum to review practical solutions to emerging sustainability issues from business, science and sociopolitical viewpoints.

For more information, contact Deidre Van Horn at (321) 67-8034 or at dvanhorn@fit.edu.