The Sustainability Studies Program (SUS) has now merged with the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. Sustainability Studies was a standalone academic unit within the university that was initially developed at the Southampton campus. Over the years, SUS has evolved to have five undergraduate majors, 14 full-time faculty with two of them joint with SoMAS, and several part-time faculty. Sustainability Studies is the home of the university’s Geospatial Center that offers courses and services in Geographical Information System (GIS) to the campus community.
The five SUS undergraduate majors include Environmental Humanities; Environmental Design, Policy, and Planning; Ecosystems and Human Impact; Coastal Environmental Studies; Sustainability Studies. These majors and the SUS faculty greatly complement and expand the current scope of SoMAS. They bring to the school new dimensions in social sciences, humanities, and management that will help us to accomplish our missions in research, education and services.
The merger took effect on January 1, 2016. The combined unit will retain the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences name. The SUS program remains located where it is now — on the lower level of the Melville Library adjacent to the Career Center. Heidi Hutner, currently Director of Sustainability Studies, has been appointed as SoMAS Associate Dean for Sustainability Studies and Director of the SUS Program. In her capability as Associate Dean, Heidi will work with the SoMAS Undergraduate Program Director and faculty directors of all majors to share responsibilities of undergraduate advising for the whole school. SoMAS staff member Kim Knoll has been assigned to spend part of her time on main campus to support the SUS program and school-wide undergraduate advising.
The merged faculty will work together to integrate the current undergraduate educational programs in SoMAS and SUS, develop a graduate program in SUS, strengthen the Geospatial Center, and seek opportunities for improvement and growth.
More information about the Sustainability Studies Program can be found at http://www.stonybrook.edu/
