Emory University • Department of Environmental Sciences

One of the hallmarks of the ENVS experience here at Emory is taking your classroom learning into the field.

In spring, students in ENVS 242: Modern & Ancient Tropical Environments Field Course (San Salvador Island, Bahamas) and ENVS 372: Ecology of the Tropics Field Course (Peru) spent a week engaged in a fully immersive field experience.

The ENVS department offers field course scholarships to support these experiences for ENVS students through the Lester Field Course Scholarship.

https://emory-envs.blog/2026/06/10/envs-in-the-field-spring-2026/

We had THE BEST day celebrating the ENVS class of 2026 on Friday! To the ENVS grads, enjoy this time together and thank you for spending some time with us this afternoon. Remember to keep in touch and come for Wednesday Waffles when you are in town.

A most heartfelt congratulations to Sonya Doubledee C'26 and Madelyn Hill C'26 for being the ENVS Hickcox (Sonya) and ENVS Wegner (Madelyn) award recipients!

The Hickcox Award represents an ENVS graduating senior who displays significant leadership, presence and service within the ENVS department and Emory community.

The John Wegner Award is given annually in recognition of achievement by an ENVS student who has conducted applied research around themes of environmental conservation, campus sustainability or field ecology.

The list of accomplishments for both Sonya and Madelyn cannot be contained in an online post! We have linked the article below to read about these OUTSTANDING ENVS students. We are so honored that they have called ENVS home for the last four years!

2026 – ENVS Hickcox & Wegner Award Recipients HICKCOX AWARD The Hickcox Award represents an ENVS graduating senior who displays significant leadership, presence and service within the ENVS department and Emory community. The Hickcox Award is n…

We had THE BEST afternoon celebrating Professor Lance Gunderson's retirement! Thanks to everyone who joined us to honor the founding chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences!

While we cannot officially re-name the department, we are unofficially calling ourselves the Gunderson Department of Environmental Sciences :)

Woot, woot! We love our majors and are loving the Emory OUE Advising series for Love your Major month.

Come hang out with us on Wednesdays at noon - waffles and community await. MSC/5th floor/ENVS office suite. See you there!
Emory College of Arts and Sciences

https://news.emory.edu/stories/2026/01/esc_sloan_grant_funds_15-01-2026/story.html

$1 million Sloan grant funds deep look at data center boom in U.S. South | Emory University | Atlanta GA The Sloan Foundation awarded $1 million to Emory researchers Kristin Phillips and Jola Ajibade to dig into questions about the socioeconomic implications for the development of data centers in the U.S. South.

“The first thing to move away from is the idea that wild food is dangerous,” Mucioki says. “Indigenous communities have eaten these for thousands of years. The more people have to learn about and engage with that landscape, the more they will be comfortable with the forest being part of their food system.”

Tasting Georgia’s Indigenous history | Emory University | Atlanta GA Students in a new environmental sciences course explored local forests for evidence of Indigenous food systems. Working with community foragers and collaborating with another course, the class studied and sampled everything from pecans to the rare pawpaw.

While COP30 wrapped up in November, the ENVS students who attended the conference is Belém, Brazil are still reflecting on their time representing Emory at the UNFCCC COP30 conference.

Shout out to ENVS'rs Carter Douglas-Brown and Belle Pobsuk.

Emory Climate Hub heads to Brazil for UNCOP30 | Emory University | Atlanta GA Emory University students were among the almost 56,000 delegates who attended this year’s 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, UNCOP30, in Belém, Brazil.

This past week, Professor Mucioki's fall 2025 special topics course, Food & Forests, was profiled in Emory Report!

"Tasting Georgia’s Indigenous history" is linked in our bio *and* in addition to the content being outstanding, the article has a link to a video so you can experience what the class was like for yourself.

“The first thing to move away from is the idea that wild food is dangerous,” Mucioki says. “Indigenous communities have eaten these for thousands of years. The more people have to learn about and engage with that landscape, the more they will be comfortable with the forest being part of their food system.”

Story by April Hunt

Tasting Georgia’s Indigenous history | Emory University | Atlanta GA Students in a new environmental sciences course explored local forests for evidence of Indigenous food systems. Working with community foragers and collaborating with another course, the class studied and sampled everything from pecans to the rare pawpaw.

Spotted in the wild! ENVS senior, Michelina Schach, harvesting the native persimmon in Georgia - Diospyros virginiana.

Mic was working on a full cup of persimmon and lamenting that she didn't have some forest friends to help her reach the fruit still left high up in the branches.

Foraging opportunities remain - be on the lookout!