The Institute for Coastal Plain Science (ICPS) is an interdepartmental organization that provides an identity to an area of exceptional research and teaching strength on campus. Members of the ICPS include faculty and students from several departments including biology, chemistry, geology and geography, civil engineering, and environmental health sciences. It also has four full-time scientists and an academic coordinator. The mission of the ICPS is to promote, in coordination with public and private partnerships, interdisciplinary research and education directed toward understanding the physical and biological resources occurring below the Fall Line and their sustainable use and management. Membership in the ICPS is open to any researchers with a focus on this geographic region. The ICPS also assists with management of the several natural history collections on campus and is the primary home of the U.S. National Tick Collection.

The ICPS directs the Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Science, a new, interdisciplinary degree program that prepares students to seek innovative solutions to today’s most pressing environmental and sustainability issues. Students in this program gain in-demand technical and soft skills through personalized mentoring and have the chance to study in natural laboratories that include beaches, salt marshes, rivers, and forests. In addition, the ICPS manages the Environmental Sustainability Interdisciplinary Minor, a 15 hour program that provides a valuable supplement to any bachelors degree.

Programs

• Sustainability Science, B.S.

• Environmental Sustainability Interdisciplinary Minor

• Environmental Science M.S. (Non-Thesis)

• Environmental Science Ph.D.