In recent decades, with the explosion in the amount of available spatial environmental data, informatics and ‘data science’ have become increasingly important. Data science technologies are fast-tracking sustainability efforts from forestry to landscape mapping, watershed ecology to archaeology, pollution detection to geology, and everything in between. Professionals and researchers who can manipulate and analyze complex environmental data are in high demand.

The interdisciplinary Environmental Informatics field of study prepares industry leaders to develop and use analytical and computer-based methods to assess and protect the Earth’s natural resources. Students learn to apply these principles across fields as diverse as social sciences, policy analysis, business, sustainable systems, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem management.