Tackling critical issues of today
The Eckerd College Gulf Studies minor is designed to engage students in interdisciplinary problem-solving through interaction with the community around them. As a bayfront campus on the Gulf Coast of Florida, Eckerd provides hands-on opportunities for students to apply lessons on environmental and social justice issues present in the Gulf region. Courses focus on environmental management and conservation, public policy, and sociocultural analyses of Gulf Coast communities and their histories.
We leverage our location and a strong network of environmental change organizations to empower future changemakers and leaders equipped to address challenges at the intersections of social, environmental and energy systems to ensure a safer, more resilient, equitable and sustainable region. The minor offers internships, service opportunities and impactful public events on campus each semester.
Gulf Studies prepares students seeking careers in conservation, environmental advocacy and public policy to lead the next generation of changemakers. The program connects students to a network of professionals who support their development as leaders, and actively recruit them for employment post-graduation.
Our students have gone on to:
Inspiring leaders in the field of resilience on the Gulf Coast and beyond
We know that bringing together different areas of learning and expertise is vital to addressing large Gulf-wide environmental, social and cultural issues—so the core of our minor is explicitly oriented toward interdisciplinarity.
We invite Gulf Studies minors to approach the many challenges affecting our local region through a Gulf Impact internship with one of the many environmental organizations working in the Tampa Bay region.
High-Impact Internships
Each Gulf Studies minor is required to complete an internship at a local conservation or environmentally-focused business as part of the minor.
1,020
Community impact
Gulf Scholar Program students completed over 1,000 hours of environmentally-focused service learning during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Gulf scholars in the news
Gulf Scholars Program
Selected in the second cohort in 2022, Eckerd is one of 32 institutions participating in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Scholars Program. Participation in this cohort has shaped the creation of the Gulf Studies minor.
Eckerd students from across disciplines are encouraged to join a community of students deepening their gulf studies interest through self-designed projects and research.
With support from faculty and researchers, Gulf Studies minors learn and practice:
INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE AND APPROACHES FROM MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES
IMPROVING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
DEVELOPING ETHICAL REASONING AND ENTREPRENEURIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS
All of these experiences and moments put our scholars on track to become tomorrow’s leaders in the field of environmental resilience.
