College of the Environment at WWU

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College of the Environment at WWU The College of the Environment at Western Washington University is a premier institution for the education of future environmental experts and leaders.

Art is one way to make science more accessible and relatable, and engages people on multiple levels. The artwork in “Sur...
10/19/2026

Art is one way to make science more accessible and relatable, and engages people on multiple levels. The artwork in “Surge: A Geography of Flow” at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner is the result of a collaboration between visual artists and climate scientists — including artists and scientists from WWU — exploring how art can spark important conversations about climate change’s impact on our landscape.

Read more at https://news.wwu.edu/wwu-artists-and-scientists-collaborate-to-provoke-dialogue-on-climate-change

Images:
1. Detail of “Surf 1” by Cara Jaye, cyanotype and water-based media, 2026.
2. Detail of “What Would Beavers Do?" by Cynthia Camlin, watercolor on paper, 2026.

WWU College of Fine and Performing Arts

Image descriptions:
1. Detail of a painting showing fish painted with gestural brush in greys over a watery blue background.
2. Detail of a painting showing a sweetgale shrub and branches stacked up like in a beaver den.

Earlier this month, the Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy Department made a strong showing at the Washington C...
10/16/2026

Earlier this month, the Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy Department made a strong showing at the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association annual conference in Vancouver, WA. Professors Nabil Kamel and Tammi Laninga attended, alongside 22 undergraduate students in the urban planning and sustainable development program and three graduate students in the urban planning and environmental sustainability master’s program. Several recent UPSD alumni who graduated in June 2026 also joined the group.

“You can’t take more than five steps at the conference without walking into a WWU alum,” said Professor Laninga. “Western’s program has a strong reputation in the state and planning directors and other professionals repeatedly tell us how impressed they are with our students — whether they served as a recent intern or have been an employee in a planning office for years. And in some cases, that alum IS the planning director now!”

WWU College of the Environment Graduate Program

Image description: A group of people wearing conference badge/nametags pose for in front of the UEPP table at the AWA WA conference.

The summer 2026 Sustainability Pathways fellows worked on projects that contribute to climate, community and ecological ...
10/16/2026

The summer 2026 Sustainability Pathways fellows worked on projects that contribute to climate, community and ecological resilience in the Methow Valley community.

Read more about the program at: https://news.wwu.edu/sustainability-pathways-cohort-contributes-to-climate-community-and-ecological-resilience-in-north

Applications for summer 2027 Sustainability Pathways fellowships are open until now, due Nov. 15

Photo 2: Emily Murphy, an urban planning and sustainable development major, worked with the town of Winthrop as a planning fellow, where she organized and facilitated a community town hall focused on current water and sewer projects, wildfire preparedness, and housing density.

Photo 3: Josie Herrick, an environmental studies major with a GIS concentration, served as a journey-level biologist in the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Habitat Program. During her fellowship, Herrick used her GIS skills to create maps for educational materials about habitat protection.

Photo 4: Erica Nass, who got her degree in environmental studies with a focus on education and eco-social justice at the end of summer, completed a fellowship with Classroom in Bloom, a non-profit K-12 garden classroom in Winthrop where she designed and led hands-on lessons, engaged students in garden-based activities, and joined the farm crew’s planting, cultivating, and harvesting efforts.

Photo 5: Nico Kinast and Katherine Thompson, both energy science and technology majors, spent their fellowships working on a microgrid project with Okanogan County Electric Cooperative (OCEC), the Methow Valley's main utility provider. They researched and analyzed potential microgrid sites to strengthen the region’s energy resilience when facing wildfires and power outages.

Sustainability Pathways at WWU Western Sustainability

Photo descriptions:
1. 22 students from the 2026 Sustainability Pathways cohort pose for a photo outside the Winthrop Library
2. People interact with posters on a wall at a town hall in Winthrop
3. Josie Herrick stands at a desk with two laptops showing maps
4. A group of people pose between rows in a garden under blue skies
5. Three people stand on a roof covered in solar panels under sunny blue skies

Environmental studies graduate student Finley Bell logged a lot of miles this summer doing research for his thesis. He s...
10/14/2026

Environmental studies graduate student Finley Bell logged a lot of miles this summer doing research for his thesis. He surveyed dozens of DNR forest plots in Whatcom County to classify which stands are most suitable for logging and which should be prioritized for conservation. Blending fieldwork and GIS technology, Bell’s timely research is well positioned to help the state make informed decisions about balancing conservation and timber harvests.

Walk along with Bell as he ground-truths legacy forest data: https://news.wwu.edu/wwu-grad-student-goes-off-the-beaten-path-to-classify-whatcom-county-s-legacy-forests

WWU College of the Environment Graduate Program

Photos © Sean Curtis Patrick and Luke Hollister/WWU:
1. Finley Bell surveys a Whatcom County forest plot.
2. Finley Bell looks at a core sample extracted from a large Douglas fir tree.
3. Finley Bell and Aaron Dubbels hike to a site they plan to survey in Olsen Creek State.
4. Finley Bell measures the circumference of a tree while Aaron Dubbels records the data in a phone app.
5. Finley Bell looks up at a tree in the forest he is surveying.

Study in Italy with Business and Food Cultures of Italy: Entrepreneurship, sustainability, and heritage in Florence and ...
10/09/2026

Study in Italy with Business and Food Cultures of Italy: Entrepreneurship, sustainability, and heritage in Florence and Tuscan parks (UEPP 437K)
Summer quarter travel June 20-July 7, 2027

This multicultural and excursion-rich food business/planning program offers intensive study and numerous field trips in a major European business and architecture center — Florence, Italy, and the surrounding Tuscan countryside (including Bologna, Modena, and Siena) and marine parks.

Study environmental, economic, and social movements (both historic and contemporary), agroecology, ecogastronomy, and design. Students study food cultures and entrepreneurship – and experience a uniquely sustainable food economy at Camporbiano in the Tuscan countryside. Practice design and experience language and culture at the Istituto Galileo Galilei, as well as authentic regional cuisine and cooking in Florence. Includes an excursion with recreational cycling to the Maremma regional and geothermal parks in Tuscany.

For more info or to apply, visit: https://studyabroad.wwu.edu/program/business-and-food-cultures-italy-entrepreneurship-sustainability-and-heritage-planning or email [email protected]

Image: Florence, Italy, and a blue box with text repeating from post: Study in Italy: Business and Food Cultures of Italy: Entrepreneurship, sustainability, and heritage in Florence and Tuscan parks. Summer 2027. Travel Dates June 20-July 7, 2027.

Study in Mexico with International Business, Planning, and Environmental Sustainability in Mexico: History, Culture, Act...
10/09/2026

Study in Mexico with International Business, Planning, and Environmental Sustainability in Mexico: History, Culture, Activism (UEPP 437)
Summer 2027
Travel dates: June 13-20, 2027

This is an exciting multi-disciplinary program to allow students to prepare and implement planning and sustainability principles around business and globalization and their impacts in central Mexico. Students prepare spring quarter for travel during the last week of the spring quarter. Assignments are due during the program. Experiences include workshops with Queretaro Sustainability Planning and Mexico non profits.

For more info or to apply, visit: https://studyabroad.wwu.edu/program/international-business-planning-and-environmental-sustainability-mexicos-cultures-histories or email [email protected]

Image: A group of people from a previous study abroad trip pose in a rocky landscape, along with a green background with text repeating from post.

WWU instructor and ethobotanist Abe Lloyd’s immersive summer wetland plant identification class ventured into local mars...
10/08/2026

WWU instructor and ethobotanist Abe Lloyd’s immersive summer wetland plant identification class ventured into local marshes, bogs, and fens for hands-on fieldwork.

Blending scientific observation, traditional plant knowledge, and stewardship, students from diverse scientific backgrounds learned to use all their senses to experience the landscape and find a deeper connection to local habitats and the many plants that call them home.

Story, video and more photos at https://news.wwu.edu/wetland-wonders-wwu-students-discover-a-sense-of-place-through-plants

Photos by Luke Hollister/WWU.

Images
1: The class emerges single file from the salt marsh onto the beach at Craft Island.
2: Abe Lloyd passes around a sample of western grasswort, a plant he found in one of the blind channels at Skagit Bay Estuary. Blind channels fill and empty with the tides, keeping salt water out of adjacent agricultural land.
3: Students pause to take photos of plants and make notes in the iNaturalist app.
4: Abe Lloyd holds up a plant, while students take notes
5: Abe Lloyd shows how to assemble a quadrat from four lengths of plastic pipe and four plastic elbows, a compact way to carry equipment into the field. The quadrat frames the one-meter square where students will inventory plants in.
6: The Wetland Plant Identification class makes its way through the marsh at Skagit Bay Estuary towards Craft Island.

Gear up for fall! Put in your pre-order for College of the Environment hoodies, zips, crewnecks, tees, and hats! Two des...
10/02/2026

Gear up for fall! Put in your pre-order for College of the Environment hoodies, zips, crewnecks, tees, and hats! Two designs and various colors and sizes to choose from.

Preorders close on Oct. 27!
https://commerce.cashnet.com/CENV_ (link in bio)

Just a reminder that we don't keep any inventory on hand, and we only order a couple of times a year, so get your order in now!

Orders will be available for pick up in the College of the Environment office later in the quarter. You will receive an email when your order is ready to pick up. Shipping options are available if you are unable to come to campus to pick up your order.

Got questions? Please contact Darrin Gordon at [email protected] or 360-650-2214.

Image: College of the Environment Gear Sale: Hoodies, zips, crewnecks tees and hats. Pre-order by Oct. 27 with drawing of a tee with design.

WWU urban planning faculty and students played a huge role in developing the Washington State Zoning Atlas! Now, an arti...
07/28/2026

WWU urban planning faculty and students played a huge role in developing the Washington State Zoning Atlas! Now, an article co-authored by Professor Tammi Laninga about the unique collaboration behind the project has been awarded The Western Planner’s Stan Steadman Article of the Year.

The article, “The Complete (Zoning) Picture: Collaboration is Key to Washington’s new online Zoning Atlas,” explores the motivations behind the 18-month project, shares insights into its development, and highlights the creative partnership that made it possible.

Read more about the project and the award-winning article here: https://news.wwu.edu/article-chronicling-the-collaborative-efforts-behind-the-washington-state-zoning-atlas-wins-top

WWU College of the Environment Graduate Program

Image: A screengrab of the interactive Washington State Zoning Atlas shows outlines of counties and major cities in Washington state with different colors representing different general zoning classifications.

07/27/2026

Congratulations, Laddi!

Address

516 High Street
Bellingham, WA
98225

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+13606503520

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