About the Center for Sustainability Studies

We take an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to critically analyze the geographical, historical and physical consequences of social processes and change.

With undergraduate and graduate coursework in the natural sciences, social sciences, statistics and GIS, students receive a rich, holistic education — moving beyond disciplinary borders while honing marketable skills. Through our programming, students become empowered agents of change that will inspire and create a more sustainable future.

Explore Sustainability Studies Possibilities

We are a diverse Center which includes faculty in Geology, Geography, Economics, Environmental Studies and Indigenous Sustainability Studies. We hope you will find your home in the diverse degree offerings here at Bemidji State University.

Our faculty are focused on student learning and student engagement. To that end, our faculty take students to field sites across northern Minnesota and engage students with local industries, non-profits and local, state and federal governmental units.

For instance, our students regularly: tour the SPRUCE Climate Change research Site in the Marcell Experimental Forest, conduct field investigations at the Pinewood Oil Spill Site, sample tree rings at the Hobson Forest and collect soil and water samples from the public lands and waters of Northern Minnesota. Depending on the degree selected, students may be required to complete an internship with local government, non-profit or industry partners and CSS students greatly benefit from this professional experience.

The overarching goal of our Center is to build a more sustainable future. Our diverse faculty work on widely varying aspects of sustainability. For example:

• Dr. Sam Jones in Geography works on forest management and how can we sustainability use forest resources.
• Dr. Anna Carlson in Environmental Studies uses systems thinking to help Northern Minnesota Communities become more resilient through a particular focus on improving access to solar-PV systems.
• Dr. Miriam Rios-Sanchez in Geology works on hydrology and hydrogeology with particular focus on developing a water budget for Red Lake and the effects oil spills have on groundwater resources.

This is only a sampling of our faculty and we all strive to reduce the environmental impact of the society we live in. You will find more information about each faculty member and degree program on their individual webpages.

I hope to see you soon on the first floor of Sattgast Hall,

Carl Isaacson