Environmental Education

Carnegie Mellon University continues to build upon its tradition as a leader and innovator in environmental education. As a community of scholars and researchers committed to understanding and addressing some of the pressing and complex environmental problems, we continually strive to find new ways to teach, study, treat, prevent, remediate and advocate in our classrooms, laboratories, campuses and communities. We take seriously the call for each of our students to emerge from CMU as global citizens, aware of the transnational nature of our world and the real consequences of individual actions. Environmental study is not confined to a single discipline nor a set of traditional curricula. It is embedded in courses from art and architecture to history and English to business and mechanical engineering. It is a part of our daily campus life and the ethos of our culture.

The educational mission of the Steinbrenner Institute is focused on the existential issue of climate change. As part of the White House Climate Challenge before the Paris Summit in December 2015, CMU pledged that all of our graduates would be climate literate. We are now embarking on a campus-wide journey to meet that pledge. We would like to work collaboratively with educational units across campus to interpret climate literacy and incorporate climate education into each unit's curriculum. What is climate change literacy and why is it important? How does the climate system function and how is it changing? How will climate change influence our graduates and their lives and careers? And what are the opportunities and responsibilities in innovation, communication, science, business, art?

Whether or not a student majors in an explicitly environmental or climate related field, we challenge them to engage their intellect and examine the role of climate change and the environment on their area of study, on other disciplines and on the living beings with whom they share this planet. We hope that knowledge and awareness will spur a curiosity that leads to involvement and that each member of our community will be inspired to action and equipped to contribute to a sustainable future.