Preparing students for world-changing careers
We are a critical development studies department that is committed to preparing students for both thoughtful analysis of the processes of human development and applied practice in the pursuit of transformative, community-driven development and social change. Sustainable development aims to enrich human well-being, protect and conserve healthy and productive natural systems, support shared economic prosperity, and advance an ecological worldview.
We examine the interdependent complexities and challenges of the world’s most pressing environmental, economic, and social problems and envision and enact creative and innovative solutions to these challenges. We examine key theoretical concepts and analytical tools in order to assess what development means and how it is experienced in different places and cultures in all parts of the world, including how current development and livelihood challenges are shaped by globalization and environmental change.
Join us as we engage in understanding and advancing the social, economic, and environmental transformations necessary to create thriving, equitable, and sustainable communities within an ecologically healthy world!
News
SD Faculty Publish New Article on Intergenerational Land and Gender Justice in Ghana
Apr 14, 2026
SD faculty members Dr. Anatoli Ignatov and Dr. Jacqui Ignatova, together with University for Development Studies, Ghana, faculty member Dr. Helen Akol...
SD Dept. Hosts "Welcoming New Arrivals to the High Country"
Apr 2, 2026
The Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Department recently partnered with several community organizations, including Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR...
SD Students Participate in Spring Field Trips!
Mar 31, 2026
SD students have been busy this Spring participating in a varity of field trips as part of their classes! Students in Dr. Rick Rheingans's SD 2850&nbs...
What Our Alumni Are Saying
My degree in SD has provided me with the building blocks upon which I have begun my career with the National Park Service as an interpreter and proponent for natural, wild places.
One thing that constantly impressed my about the program was the diversity of the students within it - the range of interests we had, and what we hoped to do with everything we learned. The faculty and staff in the Sustainable Development department gave individual, personalized attention to each of us to make sure that we would be prepared for our individual goals while also ensuring that we left with broad knowledge of all branches of sustainability - environmental, economic, agricultural, and global."