| DCISE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 - 2016 5
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
A key initiative for DCISE is to strengthen and continue to build upon all of Dyson College's environmental
academic programs. As a result of this focus, a number of curriculum initiatives were put in place during the
year, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, we welcomed two new faculty members
to the Department of Environmental Studies and Science (ESS), Matthew Aiello-Lammens, PhD, and Michael
Finewood, PhD. Since these two positions are based in Pleasantville, a Visiting Assistant Professor, Anne
Toomey, was hired to teach and work with environmental studies and science undergraduate students on
the New York City campus.
Undergraduate Degree Programs
Under the leadership of Melanie DuPuis, PhD, chair of
the Department of Environmental Studies and Science,
the undergraduate environmental studies and science
curricula underwent a total reassessment and redesign,
which became effective in September 2016. The goal was
to strengthen undergraduate skills in research and analysis
through project-based and experiential learning. The
redesign included learning objectives for assessment that
integrated the curriculum redesign. These objectives seek to
train students to develop the following skills:
Find trustworthy sources for information
Understand issues from different perspectives
Ask better questions
Design effective ways to answer those questions through rigorous scientific investigation
Understand the political and social implications of the answers to these questions and outcomes of
their investigations
