Encyclopedia Britannica defines Environmental Science as an “interdisciplinary academic field that draws on ecology, geology, meteorology, biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics to study environmental problems and human impacts on the environment. Environmental science is a quantitative discipline with both applied and theoretical aspects and has been influential in informing the policies of governments around the world.”
Another very convincing definition of the subject is given by SOAS, University of London whereby its states that Environmental Science “refers to a type of scientific discipline in its own right, one in which a broad range of insights from other branches of science are brought together (synthesized) to inform the understanding and management of contemporary environmental issues.” Like the above two, there are many other definitions which describes the academic field of environmental science; but most fall short of defining the true characteristics of the subject and in totality. Again, there are some definitions where the terms 'Environmental Science' and 'Environmental Studies' are used interchangeably which is not correct. Also, in India there are a number of textbooks on environment wherein authors have projected Environmental Science as a 'multidisciplinary' subject, which is conceptually inappropriate. Therefore, this piece of article is aimed at resolving the issues and providing a plausible definition that could be accepted by the peers within the field. Environmental Science, as an academic discipline, is holistic in nature. Generally, science subjects are atomistic and are analytical in their approach and mostly analyzing only selected variables to explain a phenomenon or process. However, in nature, environmental processes are very dynamic and involve large number of variables. To explain such processes in totality and accurately, all the involving variables needs to be taken into account while carrying out the scientific investigations. In fact, the study of environmental change is considered central to environmental science. Therefore, it would not be wrong to state that the central approach in environmental science is antithesis to the atomistic approach of other branches of natural science. Environmental investigations and other activities within the domain are descriptive as well as analytical. Environmental scientists use both descriptive as well as analytical methods to study the constantly changing environment at both spatial and temporal scales. Environmental science involves concern for situations that have real consequences for the society and therefore environmental scientists are largely regarded as being subjective in their evaluations. However, this cannot be generalized or held true because conclusions and recommendations concerning an environmental issue are usually based on actual scientific experiments and investigations. Professionals in the field of environmental science do seek alternative solutions to environmental problems and developing the basis for choice between alternatives. Thus, the subject will always contain ethical, moral, socio-economic and political dimensions to a certain extent. Many see environmental science as an instrument that can be used to support and promote environmental stewardship, conservation and protection. On the other hand, many argue that environmental science should be free of subjective influences. Practitioners should not advocate a particular viewpoint and instead singularly focus on “collection, communication of robust verifiable data”. Such contradictions are usually observed in debates concerning development of the built environment. However, when one talks about scientific ethics, scientist does have moral obligations towards the society. This is also true in case of the environmental scientists. Therefore, environmental scientists and other environmental professionals must always act in a manner that favors environmental protection and sustainable development. In addition, they are expected to put forward professional judgments based only on scientific evidences. Another very critical issue that needs to be addressed is to determine whether environmental science is a multidisciplinary or an interdisciplinary academic field. The subject has evolved over the past six decades and has established itself as an unique academic field and enjoys ever increasing importance; however, the fact remains that it owes its growth to the advances happening in other fields of basic sciences. Since, the larger domain of environmental science has overlaps and intersects with domains of other academic fields, therefore it is usually categorized as either of the following: multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary. The term ‘multidisciplinary’ is applied when perspectives from different disciplines are brought in to illustrate a topic, i.e. the same topic is studied from the viewpoint of more than one disciplines. On the other hand, ‘interdisciplinary’ subjects emphasize on “combining contents, theories, methodologies and perspectives from more than one discipline” (International Bureau of Education, UNESCO). Thus, it is quite clear that Environmental Science is obviously an interdisciplinary subject and not multidisciplinary as projected by many institutes and universities in India. However, there is another term – “Transdisciplinary” which may be applicable to environmental science considering the current state of development of the subject. According to IBE-UNESCO, transdisciplinary approach emphasizes on “dissolving conventional boundaries of disciplines and organizes teaching and learning around construction of meaning in the context of real world problems and themes”. The distinguishing characters among the different types of disciplinarities can be depicted diagrammatically as in Figure 1 of Tytler, Prain & Hobbs (2019) . Therefore, it is quite possible and would be appropriate to term Environmental Science to be a transdisciplinary subject since it is able to “create a unity of intellectual frameworks beyond the disciplinary perspectives” (Jensenius, 2012). Therefore, from the above discussion and based on personal experiences, I would like to present here an alternative and comprehensive definition of the “Environmental Science” as follows: “Environmental Science is a transdisciplinary academic field, whereby environmental components, processes and contemporary environmental issues are studied in a holistic way, applying scientific methods and insights from other branches of natural sciences, so as to be able to assess environmental impacts and provide sustainable solutions for the problems within a singular framework.” The current issue at hand needs more elaborate discussion and on a larger platform. However, the definition presented here is from the perspective of a researcher in the subject and therefore with inputs from other academicians and active professionals in the field shall be helpful in refining it further. Bibliography: Jensenius, A. R. (2012). Disciplinarities: intra, cross, multi, inter, trans. Jensenius, AR, blog posts,[Megtekintve: 2015.03. 05.], University of Oslo, http://www. arj, (2012/03), 12. Tytler, R., Prain, V. & Hobbs (2019). Rethinking Disciplinary Links in Interdisciplinary STEM Learning: a Temporal Model. Res Sci Educ (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-019-09872-2 Websites accessed: UNESCO - International Bureau of Education. (2013). Glossary of curriculum terminology. http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/glossary-curriculum-terminology Encyclopedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/science/environmental-science Readings, K. Unit One: The Earth System and its Components. SOAS, University of London. https://www.soas.ac.uk/cedep-demos/000_P500_ESM_K3736-Demo/unit1/page_09.htm
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