毫无疑问，在二十一世纪，全球人类社会在为超过75亿人口的人口提供食物，能源，材料和基本服务方面面临着环境后果的大幅增长。环境系统计划（ESYS）认识到对环境专家的日益增长的需求，旨在使本科生准备进入广泛的环境职业和研究生课程，例如自然科学，社会科学，公共政策，法律和商业。该跨学科计划认识到，地方，国家，地区，国际和全球环境问题并不适合传统的学术部门。社会缺乏有效管理复杂环境问题的可测量部分是由于缺乏能够应用跨学科界限的分析工具的专家。许多环境专家很少接受自然科学方面的培训，包括地球和环境科学的基本思想和方
There can be little doubt that in the twenty-first century the global human community is facing a substantial growth in the environmental consequences in providing food, energy, materials, and basic services to a population of more than 7.5 billion inhabitants. The Environmental Systems Program (ESYS) recognizes the growing demand for environmental specialists and is designed to prepare undergraduates to enter a broad spectrum of environmental careers and graduate programs in, for example, the natural sciences, the social sciences, public policy, law, and business. This interdisciplinary program recognizes that local, national, regional, international, and global environmental problems do not fit neatly into traditional academic departments. A measurable part of society's inability to effectively manage complex environmental problems stems from the lack of specialists who can apply analytical tools that cross disciplinary boundaries. Many environmental specialists possess little training in the natural sciences including both the fundamental ideas and methodologies of the earth and environmental sciences. The environmental systems major was created to address both of these shortcomings.