Environmental Students and Faculty Research

At Ursinus College, students are encouraged to work with faculty members on original research. Opportunities for scholarly work take many forms, including students working on faculty-initiated research projects, and faculty mentoring student-initiated research projects. For faculty research interests, see the Environmental Studies faculty page.  

Students can undertake original research in several forums: as an independent study during a semester, as part of the Ursinus College Summer Fellows Program, and as part of a senior honors thesis. Following is a list of selected honors thesis topics completed by recent Environmental Studies majors at Ursinus College. 

“Design of an Extended Detention Wet Pond Retrofit for Ursinus College” (Erony Whyte, 2005) 

“Concepts of Sustainable Design” (Brianna Worley, 2005) 

“Civil Society, Multilateral Institutions, and Environmental Concerns in an Era of Economic Globalization” (Elizabeth A. Blair, 2006) 

“Oversight to Insight: The Marine Mammal Commission as a Prototype of Government Evaluation” (Kathryn A. Semmens, 2006) 

“Greening the Ursinus Campus” (Marguerite Porrini, 2007) 

“A Zero Impact House for Ursinus College” (Jenna Tomiello, 2007)