Environmental and Ocean Sciences Clubs and Honors Societies

USD AEP is a student chapter of California AEP that helps foster connections between students and environmental professionals in San Diego. The chapter regularly hosts guest professional speakers in all fields related to environmental planning and analysis. AEP is dedicated to the continued improvement of the environmental profession.

USD AEP often attends networking events in San Diego, such as the annual AEP Awards Banquet and Holiday Party, which is a great way for students to begin growing their professional network in their field of interest.

AEP memberships for students are free. More information is available on the AEP San Diego Chapter website. 

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USD's Changemaker Hub fosters a university-wide ecosystem that strengthens the collective capacity of our students, faculty, staff and community partners to address humanity’s most urgent challenges through meaningful, sustainable, and innovative collaborations. What will you do while you are at USD to be in the service of an issue that matters to you? Whatever it is, we encourage you to work with other like-minded individuals to make a positive difference for your community and to leave a legacy and a path for others to follow.

Contact Changemaker Hub at changemaker@sandiego.edu

The Environmental Integration Lab is a part of the University's strategic initiative funding and Investment Policy with Laudato Si'. They emphasize Care for our Common Home by developing strategic collaborations to deliver integrative and innovative solutions to urgent challenges related to climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice.

The pillars of the EIL are learning, scholarship, leadership, and engagement, which empower both students and the surrounding community to address environmental challenges through curriculum advancement, research opportunities, professional development, and partnerships.

Contact EIL at eil@sandiego.edu

Fashion Forward Club works to promote sustainable fashion at USD and beyond by providing the resources necessary to create and innovate. The club works with many organizations to host a multitude of events, so stay tuned and come tap into your creative spirit!

Contact the Fashion Forward Club at fashionforwardusd@gmail.com

The USD Surfrider Club is dedicated to engaging the USD community in education and activism surrounding the issues of plastic pollution, ocean protection, beach access, coastal preservation, and clean water in the local San Diego area. They aim to promote and complete projects that fulfill the National Surfrider Foundation's mission towards the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches, for all people, through a powerful activist network. The USD Surfrider Club is affiliated with the National Surfrider Foundation.

Contact usd@clubs.surfrider.org for more information. 

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Sustainability Club is an innovative, eco-minded student voice that promotes an ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable campus. Their goal is to encourage sustainability as a way of life to reduce the University's collective impact. Sustainability Club is committed to reducing USD’s waste and water consumption through marketing campaigns, community service and outreach, and eco-events. Sustainability Club's purpose consists of the following:

● Expand campus awareness and commitment to sustainability
● Foster integration among academics and sustainability
● Build campus infrastructure that promotes sustainability
● Cultivate the capacity of individuals to promote sustainability
● Serve as a suitability resource for the San Diego community
● Engage internal and external partnerships that promote sustainability
● Commitment to make the campus more sustainable
● Increase environmental stewardship among students, faculty, and staff at USD

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Pi Epsilon is the National Environmental Honors Society. Pi Epsilon’s first chapter and National Office was founded by a group of Environmental Sciences Ph.D. students at Wright State University in 2003. Pi Epsilon promotes the study of environmental sciences through recognition of exemplary scholarly and professional activity at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Environmental science is understood to be the study of our environment and all stressors acting on it: chemical, physical, and biological. The society seeks to promote interdisciplinary studies and foster interactions between industry and academia to further the study of environmental science. 

Criteria for Membership

Membership is open to undergraduate and graduate students in the environmental and natural sciences who meet the following requirements:

• Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 out of 4.00
• Have completed at least 30 semester hours (45 quarter) of total coursework for undergraduates and at least 6 semester hours of total coursework for graduate students.
• Have completed at least three quarter- or semester-length courses in environmental science (of which at least one is not an introductory course) with a cumulative GPA in those courses of at least 3.30 out of 4.00.
• If no environmental science courses are available, courses from biology, chemistry, geology, and physics will be accepted with the following requirements:
  • Courses must be from three of the four above disciplines
  • The primary discipline of study must not exceed 75 percent of the total science coursework.
  • Cumulative science GPA must be at least 3.30 out of 4.00 

If you meet the above requirements, you may apply via the membership application portal. The fee for a lifetime membership in Pi Epsilon is $25.00. The Fall deadline is November 1st and the Spring deadline is March 1st.

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