About Social Ecology

The School of Social Ecology is an interdisciplinary academic unit whose scholarly research and instruction is informed by and contributes to knowledge in the social, behavioral, legal, environmental, and health sciences. The School is comprised of four departments: Criminology, Law and Society; Environmental Health, Science and Policy; Psychology and Social Behavior; and Planning, Policy, and Design. Social Ecology faculty apply scientific methods to the study of a wide array of recurring social, behavioral, and environmental problems. Among issues of long-standing interest in the School are crime and justice in society, social influences on human development over the life cycle, and the effects of the physical environment on health and human behavior. While the field of ecology focuses on the relationships between organisms and their environments, social ecology is concerned with the relationships between human populations and their environments.

Social Ecology's faculty is multidisciplinary, including psychologists with a variety of specialties (e.g., developmental, social, environmental, and health psychology); criminologists; sociologists; political scientists; lawyers; urban and regional planners and economists; environmental health scientists; and program evaluation experts. The School's research and teaching is distinguished by an emphasis on the integration of the concepts and perspectives of these multiple disciplines. This focus is based on the School's core belief that the analysis and amelioration of complex societal problems requires interdisciplinary efforts.

Many Social Ecology faculty are involved in developing policies and interventions directed toward improving the functioning of individuals, families and other groups, organizations, institutions, and communities, while other faculty in the School focus their efforts on the complex environmental issues confronting our society. Social Ecology undergraduate students benefit from the multidisciplinary instructional expertise of the School's faculty in the classroom and are afforded opportunities to engage in field-based learning, as well, through the School's well-established and highly regarded field studies program. Graduate students work closely with the faculty in the classroom and on important research projects that enhance their research skills.