Our mission
The School of Earth & Sustainability (SES) is a pan-campus network of students, scholars, scientists, and innovators. SES connects academic programs, wide-ranging experts, and regional partners to advance transdisciplinary research, accessible education, and meaningful community engagement. Our work drives collaborative, place-based solutions with local-to-global impact for a more sustainable, just, and climate-resilient future.
Milestone In Evolution
As SES approaches its ten-year anniversary this April, we are marking a significant milestone in our evolution. We are moving beyond our early grassroots years, a decade characterized by building cross-campus collaborations and learning where we can make the most meaningful impact, into a phase of focused operations. SES is now an established academic unit and professionalized hub with a clear mission, purview, and a robust network of services. This transition is responsive to the needs of our community, ensures long-term stability, and reinforces UMass Amherst’s position as a leader in sustainability research and education.
Pan-Campus Network
SES serves as an established pan-campus network of students, scholars, scientists, and innovators. In its role as a cross-college school, SES connects academic programs, experts, and partners to advance: transdisciplinary impact and student success. This collaborative work drives solutions with local to global impact for a more sustainable, just, and climate-resilient future.
Our network includes academic departments and programs that form the foundation of our work and have have a shared commitment to the SES mission. Member departments currently include Environmental Conservation (ECo), Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences (EGCS), the Stockbridge School of Agriculture (SSA), and Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning (LARP).
Over the past few years, SES has engaged valued faculty leaders from across the university to develop a strategic plan for scaling impact and expanding SES affiliation beyond the College of Natural Sciences to prepare for the next phase of operations. This includes representation from Environmental Humanities and English within the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and School of Public Policy within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Idea-to-Activation Operational Model
As a collaborative hub, SES serves as a bridge between colleges, academic training, and campus operations. Our high-impact shared services model removes administrative friction by centralizing strategic communications, coordinating student success programming, and facilitating cross-campus governance. This structure empowers our diverse community of over 400 faculty, 1,200 undergraduates, and graduate students.
By centralizing strategic communications, coordinating university-wide student success programming, and facilitating pan-campus governance, SES delivers an operational framework that empowers the UMass community to scale its impact through place-based, regional needs-driven solutions.
Key Programs and Shared Services
Our programs and services support teaching, research, creative activity, engagement, and extension with a strong emphasis on transdisciplinary collaboration.
- Communications: SES Communications provides integration, cross-promotion, and storytelling to elevate the SES brand. We also create assets and materials to support special programs and engage the SES network.
- Climate Literacy Program @ UMass: Our team is developing new Climate Literacy curriculum. Drawing on university expertise, this program includes modules for students, communities, and specialized audiences to enhance climate understanding and action. SES is experimenting with the design and delivery to maximize impact and reach. It is an exciting initiative that when we began, there was no suitable example elsewhere to adapt. True to our UMass spirit, SES is designing the program through student-centered training with undergraduate and graduate students.
- Student Success: We offer comprehensive programming to prepare students to lead the green workforce. This includes student-led initiatives like the Student Sustainability Coalition, an Internship Program, and major events like the annual Sustainability Career Fair and Earth Day Extravaganza. SES works closely with the SGA Sustainability team and other program leaders.
- Regional Impact: SES is the primary regional hub connecting UMass Amherst to the Commonwealth's green economy and purposefully aligning university expertise and training to address local-to-global challenges. We activate teams in our network with specialized expertise to deliver tangible solutions in strategic areas of impact and need. Currently, SES is supporting place-based impact work in several areas: Climate Resilience, Arts & Sciences, and Food Systems.