Educating the Next Generation of Environmental Chemists

摘要

Combine rigorous training in traditional chemistry with the ability to apply that knowledge to environmental problems and you have a set of skills that is increasingly in demand by industry, government, and laboratories (1). To help meet this need for environmental chemists, the American Chemical Society's Committee on Professional Training last year established criteria for the approval of undergraduate degree programs in environmental chemistry. The first program to be approved was announced last month. A few undergraduate programs in environmental chemistry have sprung up during the past several years. The development of one such program at California State University-Fullerton (CSUF) illustrates how the needs of the local environmental community help to shape such programs and ensure their support in a time of shrinking academic budgets.