Integrating environmental sustainability into mathematics: worked examples for undergraduate coursework

There is a growing need to integrate sustainability into tertiary mathematics education given the urgency of addressing global environmental challenges. This paper presents four teaching modules from Australian university courses that incorporate ecological and environmentally-conscious concepts into the mathematics curriculum. The modules span core undergraduate mathematical areas, including calculus, optimisation and operations research, and statistics, through applications in population dynamics, sustainable fisheries management, endangered species assessment, and climate impacts on marine ecosystems, respectively. Each module uses a simple but important ecological problem to demonstrate how fundamental mathematical methods can be applied to sustainability questions. A deliberate feature of the modules is that they are designed for low-barrier adoption, requiring little prior ecology background and minimal additional preparation from instructors. Together, they offer ready-to-implement examples and teaching materials for integrating sustainability into mathematics courses. For students, the examples develop interdisciplinary problem-solving skills, prepare them for sustainability challenges they may encounter in future careers, and provide gateways to more advanced applications in sustainability-focussed research and practice.