Sustainability Certificate

As part of Franklin Pierce’s Green Earth program, the Environmental Science Dept. and the Monadnock Institute of Nature, Place and Culture have coordinated a group of faculty from across disciplines to offer a Sustainability Certificate. The program allows students to apply knowledge and skills from several academic areas to the practical problems of reducing the environmental impact of modern living. Through practical projects in resource conservation, environmental art and communication, ecopsychology, clean energy technology, green business, place-based studies, and related areas, the Certificate allows students of any major to become deeply involved in creating a sustainable society.

What you will gain by completing the certificate program:

• Active participation in the new “green revolution” to help solve environmental problems
• Leverage to set yourself apart from other job applicants
• “Real-world” experience with sustainability within your current major

Certificate Requirements

To earn the Sustainability Certificate, students are required to complete the following sequence
(total of 13-17 credits):

1. Take a 1 credit ES202 Seminar in Sustainability, OR ES240 Creating Sustainable Communities: Learn about concepts and actions related to ecological sustainability, and identify a sustainability project they would like to work on at FP or in local communities.
2. Take 3 courses listed as “green earth” courses (see next page), which are existing courses whose faculty members have indicated that they have “green content” in their courses or they have an assignment in the class that would allow the student to work on their sustainability project (e.g., design marketing campaign, develop an video, write a story, conduct research, etc.).  Students will identify to the faculty member that they are working on a Sustainability Certificate, and they will work with the faculty to fit course content to their project goals.  This will enable them to weave the “green threads” in these courses into their Sustainability Project, either during the course, or during the project. 
3. Conduct and complete the project for a 3 credit Sustainability Project (see examples below).  This project course would be run by the Sustainability Coordinator, who would oversee the project, and connect the students with the individuals and resources needed to complete the project successfully.   The Coordinator would also make sure that the student demonstrates how he or she is applying the knowledge and skills from the Green Earth courses to the project.

Examples of possible projects: Campus farm; Green residence halls; increasing public transit; designing env educational murals, brochures; Zipcars; Carbon offsets; Environmental Psychology – how can we get people to change their behavior: Marketing and management for a “green business”; Composting; Neighborhood nature trails: Env. education for local K-12 students; Local land use history and sense of place; Low-impact art materials; Technologies to reduce electricity use; invasive species management; impacts of development on wildlife; “Green” building at FP; Purchasing of recycled products; “Sustainably-harvested” wood products; Reducing fossil fuel used for landscaping; Light pollution; Green energy; Minimizing use of bottled water; Water quality in Pearly Pond; Land protection for FP property

Course Selection

• AN210 Contemporary Native American Culture
• AN220 Global Problems
• AS301 Place, Community and American Culture
• BI217 Tropical Forest Ecology
• BI342 Wildlife Conservation and Management
• BI430 Forest Ecology
• CH221 Environmental Chemistry
• CIT222 Intro. to Geographic Information Systems
• ED314 Challenges in Math and Science
• ES101 Intro. to Env. Science I
• ES102 Intro. to Env. Science II
• ES210 Evolution of Environmental Thought
• ES214 Coastal Ecology
• ES245 Alternate Energy (new course)
• ES240 Creating Sustainable Communities
• ES310 Environmental Impact Assessment
• ES320 Wetland Ecology
• GL205 Environmental Geology
• HP211 Intro. to Public History
• MC211 Journalism I
• MC252 Journalism II
• MC352 Feature Writing
• MK201 Principles of Marketing
• MK314 Consumer Behavior
• MK333 Marketing Research
• MK350 Electronic Commerce: Web Site project
• MK/AD304 Advertising: Advertising Campaign
• MK335 Public Relations: Public Relations Campaign
• MK474 Marketing Management for a Green Economy
• PA/ES306 Philosophy of Science and Nature
• PO344 Environmental Politics
• PS 261 Research Methods for Psychology
• PS 322  Social Psychology
• SO101 Introduction to Sociology
• SO203 Community Organization
• SO450 Seminar in Sociological Perspectives
• SR246 Parks and Natural Resource Management

Want to Know More?

For more information please contact:

Jess Gerrior
Sustainability Coordinator
603.899.4175

FACULTY