Environmental Studies at Skidmore College

Honors in Environmental Studies

Environmental Studies (ES) Program honors are awarded to ES seniors who have maintained the required college and department grade averages and who, by the end of the first semester of the senior year, have either registered for or enrolled in ES376 Senior Thesis. The senior thesis proposal must be approved by the ES Steering Committee prior to enrollment in ES76 Senior Thesis. In addition to the necessary grade averages and an A- or better on the ES senior thesis, students must receive the recommendation of the ES program.

The Senior Thesis Proposal (procedures, deadlines, and guidelines):

The ES Steering Committee must approve all senior thesis proposals before the projects are initiated and before enrollment in ES 376 Senior Thesis.

ES senior thesis proposals are due to the Director of ES by November 15 for spring semester projects, and April 5 for fall and summer projects.

Please submit your final thesis proposal electronically and simultaneously to the Director of Environmental Studies and your thesis advisor. This will allow the Director of ES to easily verify that your thesis advisor approves of your submission to the ES Steering Committee.

The Director of ES will provide the student and his/her thesis project advisor with a summary of the suggestions made by the ES Steering Committee members and indicate whether the project has been approved within several weeks of the aforementioned deadlines.

In order to submit a proposal to the ES Steering Committee for review, the student must identify a senior thesis advisor and work with that advisor to complete a proposal which includes the following components:

  • A title page including the project title, the student's name and the thesis advisor's name. Some thesis projects may be sufficiently broad as to require additional faculty perspectives. In this case, please identify any faculty members that will serve as second readers of your project.
  • An introduction that provides background and context for the proposed subject of capstone project. The student must clearly demonstrate that the project is firmly planted under the umbrella of environmental studies (i.e., that is the project deals with the interaction between humans and the natural world).
  • The specific thesis, study objective, hypothesis, or central argument or focus of the project must be clearly stated.
  • A detailed description of the methods that will be used to address the thesis, study objective, hypothesis, or central argument or focus, including the sort of material that will be reviewed or data that will be collected, and the ways the relevant material or data will be analyzed.
  • A timeline indicating the completion dates for the major project benchmarks.
  • A brief description of all types of final outcomes of the capstone project (e.g., report, journal article, presentation at professional meeting, concert, museum exhibition, art show, film, web page, etc.). We strongly encourage all students to present their final work at Skidmore's Academic Festival.
  • A complete bibliography for your project proposal.