This is part four in a series on sustainability issues at Stanislaus State.

Students with an interest in sustainability related courses have a lot to choose from at Stanislaus State.
From classes focused on water challenges and the ways to address them to one’s that focus on the historical aspects that created our current environmental issues, these courses are set up to help students explore the many different areas of sustainability education and learn how they can impact the environment in a positive way.
Originally a Liberal Studies major, Dr. Alison McNally, professor of geography and Stan State alumna, said her passion for studying the planet and how she could make a positive impact in its future began when she took a human ecology course as an undergraduate. 
“It was the first time I’d taken an academic course that really nailed into the exact things I was interested in; human environment interaction, how humans affect the environment, how we adapt to it and things we might do that impact it,” she explained. 
The class connected her to the concept of sustainability and the fact that we have a planet to feed and clothe as well as the need to lessen our impact on it as those demands are met.
McNally ended up switching her major to geography, taking every class offered within the major and eventually got involved with geographic information system (GIS) mapping, a system that creates, manages, analyzes and maps various types of data.
Today, she has a few key interests in the area of geography and the environment, including water issues, endangered species, and physical geography, each of which she explored while working on her master’s and doctorate degrees at UC Davis.
“All of these experiences really did cement my interest in sustainability issues,” McNally said. “I think it’s a topic that we’re always going to be facing in everything we do.” 
A few courses taught by McNally include Water and Power, Climatology, GIS and Geographic Processes in the Western U.S.
In her Water and Power course, the term “power” means “people” power, McNally explained.
“It’s a course that really focuses on water sustainability and socioeconomic issues associated with making sure people are provided with clean, sustainable drinking water,” she said. “We look at how we can manage water globally and locally, what are the challenges people face?” 
Water challenges discussed in class include water storage, lack of access to affordable water, water pollution in groundwater & surface water, and water accessibility issues. 
“What I like about that class is that it opens students’ eyes to where their water comes from,” she said. “It leaves students thinking about water consistently.”
Sustainability is also a common theme for students in Stan State’s agriculture department, which offers environmentally themed concentrations like Sustainable Agriculture and Agricultural and Environmental Resource Management.
Dr. Oluwarotimi Odeh, Program Director, Rolland Starn Endowed Chair, and Professor of Agriculture in the department, said sometimes educating students on sustainability is about changing their mindset   
“It comes down to changing our habits, instead of taking a 30-minute shower, maybe cut it down to five, or instead of keeping the lights on, turn them off,” he said. “There are some things that we’re teaching students, like the fact that if you can afford it, doesn’t mean you should use it.” 
Odeh explained that when it comes to sustainability, there are three major components that need to be addressed.
“There’s an environmental side, an economic side, and a social aspect. One cannot solve it alone,” he said.
Courses offered within the ag department that include a sustainability and environmental realm include AGST 4050 Sustainable Vegetable Production, which is taught from the sustainability aspect of plant science and a GE course called AGST 3000 Ag Society and the Natural World, which examines the relationships between societies and their environments, economics and agriculture. 
Sustainability and environmental related courses aren’t just for science majors, though.
While the idea of sustainability might not immediately bring to mind the study of history, Stan State Professor of History and Department Chair, Dr. Philip Garone, seems to easily connect the two for his students.
“Sustainability is about taking care of our planet on all scales, from the local area where we live to global climate. It’s about protecting that,” Garone said. 
Garone explained that those who study environmental history get a much clearer sense about why that physical environment is important, and not only how it has shaped how we live now, but also what we’ve done to the environment.
“If we want to understand everything from why climate change is happening to why we have these intense wildfires, environmental history is intimately and intricately tied to sustainability, because you have to understand the systems that you’re trying to sustain and protect from a historical perspective,” he said. 
With an educational background in U.S. environmental history and ecology, Garone has been able to bring a lot of ecological thinking into his courses and research. He teaches several environmentally related history courses including History 4590 The Role of Nature in U.S. History, which looks at U.S. history from the colonial period to the present, through the lens of the natural world.
“It’s about the way nature has shaped U.S. history, but also the way that humans have shaped nature, and that’s a very symbiotic process,” he said.
Another course, History 4595 World Environmental History, is an upper division GE course that focuses on the environmental history of the world and its societies.
“We take a global look at environmental history and how that has shaped world history and world civilizations,” Garone said.
Garone said he sees some non-history majors taking his environmental history courses, but would love to see more exploration of his upper division GE courses by students from any major.
“If students have electives that they want to fill, I definitely welcome that,” he said. 
Garone’s interest in Central Valley sustainability issues also lead him to pen the 2011 book The Fall and Rise of the Wetlands of the Great Central Valley a comprehensive history of Central Valley wetlands.
Both McNally and Garone also helped create the Council for Sustainable Futures, a Stan State council that fosters awareness, understanding, and a culture of sustainability on campus.
Career Possibilities
Students who graduate with degrees within the environmental sciences shouldn’t find themselves short on options in the Central Valley. As one of the largest agriculture producers in the state, Stanislaus County is home to a large number of companies that depend on graduates with knowledge in areas like GIS, water, environmental law and environmental planning.
Graduate student, Candice Hann (History, 2016), has been employed by Columbia College for the past nine years, but is considering teaching eventually. She said she didn’t make the connection to sustainability as a history major until she transferred to Stan State.
“I had no idea there was a subfield of environmental history,” Hann said.
As an undergraduate Hann was introduced to a wider breadth of history courses. She’s taken several of Garone’s courses as well, including a graduate studies course with an environmental emphasis.
Hann said that while she knew environmental history was about how people interact with their environment and their place in nature, she was surprised to learn how varied the subject was.
“Although you may be focusing on one nation or specific region, it can be a real transnational cross disciplinary topic,” she said. “I believe there is something for everyone in that discipline.”