Wooster sounds like a good fit in many ways, but we nixed it because it doesn’t offer a major in environmental science or even environmental studies, which is fairly unusual. Of course, one can major in biology or another natural science and still pursue a career in environmental science, but this was a red flag for us in terms of faculty connections for internships, on-campus research in relevant areas, and grad school connections.
A mix in terms of selectivity and regions: Earlham, Pacific Lutheran, Concordia (Moorhead), Lawrence, Ohio Wesleyan, Nebraska Wesleyan, perhaps Illinois Wesleyan, Allegheny, Davidson, Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Hamilton, Hendrix, Drake, Rhodes, Denison.
She could always apply to St O “just in case”… after all, she can forge her own path, it’s not like every professor will see her name and ask her if she’s “x’s sister”? 
Bard has an Environemental and Urban Studies program. http://eus.bard.edu/ Rural campus on the Hudson River. 2300 students. Required senior thesis. 44% male, 56% female.
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry might also be worth a look. It’s in Syracuse and you can take advantage of U of Syracuse’s offerings as well. It’s 57% male, 43% female. 1800 undergrads. (I didn’t know SUNY’s came that small!) http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/suny-environmental-science-and-forestry-2851
My daughter toured St. Olaf in August and loved it. She was accepted in February with her ACT of 31 and GPA of 3.9. She knew it was a financial reach for our family. We took her to Concordia College in Moorhead, MN in October because there are a lot of similarities to St. Olaf but it isn’t as pricy. It isn’t as selective as St. Olaf, but it’s a well regarded school in the Midwest. It’s also in a bigger town which she liked. Her stats would put her in a great place for merit aid. My daughter loved the campus and their nursing department. The dorms were great. Everyone we met with was incredibly nice. I knew she had a new favorite when we were eating lunch on campus and she said she wasn’t sure if she was going to continue to work on her application to St. Olaf (Idid make her finish it). Concordia invited my daughter to compete for their Presidential Distinction Scholarship and she was awarded their highest amount. They are saving a place for her in their nursing program. We can afford to send her there without taking out loans. The package St. Olaf gave to us would have required my daughter to take out loans and we would have had to take out parent plus loans to do it. My daughter toured several other schools in Minnesota and Concordia was her clear favorite.
When I read through your list of requirements I felt like Concordia fits your list. They are completely redoing one of their science buildings too. At least check out their website.
Would New College of Florida and College of the Atlantic be too small for her?
College of the Atlantic has fewer than 500 students. I think that’s too small but what a great school for environmental studies.
Wow! Thanks everyone! She’s never heard of a few of your suggestions and is looking into them now. I was wondering about SUNY ESF and whether it would provide the warm community she wants - any thoughts on that from someone who has been there?
She’d dip below 2000 by a little if it took her breath away, but 500 would be a deal breaker for her. Thanks, though! She doesn’t yet have specific career goals, but she has done a few programs in the summer which have confirmed her interest in the field.
Our high school graduates about 600 kids a year, and it seems like they all apply to the same small number of schools.
Has she looked at St. Lawrence?
http://www.stlawu.edu/sites/default/files/resource/Class%20of%202018%20Profile.pdf
To repeat some suggestions by others, that offer stronger environmental studies/science programs as well as merit aid:
UVermont
Dickinson
St. Lawrence
Whitman (less merit aid) and Colorado College (even less merit aid given) would also be worth a look, noting that they are less generous with merit aid.
We are visiting St Lawrence this week, actually. She’s read some things online about a drinking culture there, but enough to like that she wants to see it. Visiting UVermont, too. Likely that she’ll be turned off by the size, but who know, and the program is fantastic. I didn’t remember that Dickinson had merit aid - great suggestion! D1 looked at it but chose not to apply. Can’t remember why, because we all liked it. they were the nicest admissions people we met anywhere, hands down.
You may wish to look at Eckerd College. Great environmental science and studies programs, study abroad, service learning trips and strong ties to local community, strong professor/mentor relationships. Senior project with 40 volunteer hours. New molecular and life sciences buildings, renovated to new physics, math, computer science and environmental sciences building. Their motto is “think outside”. Largest number of NOAA Hollings Scholars in US. All classes and labs are taught by Professors who are evaluated by how well they involve their students in research. Undergraduate program only. Approx. 1850 students. Residential campus with about 87% of students living on campus. Great residential life program. With your daughter’s stats, she would be eligible for wonderful merit scholarships. They are also generous with financial need awards.
Many of these might be reaches, but what comes to mind are:
Wesleyan, Brandeis, Hamilton, Trinity
Oberlin, Vassar, Conn. College, Kenyon, Carleton
My son went to Carleton and liked it. My daughter is at Luther College and LOVES it. She had the grades and test scores to do well anywhere, but as soon as she visited Luther…that was it. Cannot say enough good things about it.
The OP’s daughter needs “a solid merit aid match” so schools that are all need based or significant reaches with merit won’t fit the bill.
@howabouthat - How were the weekend visits? What did your daughter think of the schools?
She liked St Lawrence. Very welcoming students, faculty and staff. She sat in on a freshmen class for environmental science majors and loved it. They do one-on-one tours there, and ours happened to be an Env Sci major. He has a great internship related to his studies this summer. She was pretty impressed with all the fun to be had with the outings club, including Peaks Weekend, where almost everyone on campus heads out to try to get students on every peak in the Adirondacks at the same time. It sounds like a very involved, connected student body, which appealed to her. So many clubs, and people really turn out for them. Among many other things, our guide is in a cheese club - they eat cheese and listen to live (folk and jazz?) music in a beautiful old room on campus. For me, I would never apply to a school in such a remote location, but the campus feeling seemed vibrant. If she chooses to apply there, my first move will be to look for a break bus schedule because…ugh, that drive.
In Burlington, she refused to even look at Univ of Vermont. It is bigger than she wants, but I thought the deep program there would tempt her. We visited St Michael’s so we could stretch our legs after the drive from Canton, and she liked it. It didn’t hurt that our tour guide was the most charming young women, environmental studies major giving her last tour before graduation. The guide was feeling so sentimental about her beloved school that she actually got teary a few times as she described specific traditions on campus. And, of course, you can see the Green Mountains from the admissions building. The whole campus is very focused on service. In the end, I don’t see her applying there, but she enjoyed the visit.
@Mmomm - would you mind if I messaged you about Luther?
Colorado College is a good suggestion, but its block program may not be for everyone.
We are looking at similar places. Eckerd, Gustavus, Luther, Lawrence, Grinnell. My impression was that St Olaf didn’t offer enough merit to make it worth our while. If Muhlenberg is increasing merit, may have to reconsider. Another LAC that I considered for her was Juniata, but she decided too small and hilly. And for some reason, every place I suggest in Ohio (and there are a lot!) gets shot down.
Don’t know if you are considering public LACs, but we are looking at Truman State (amazing bargain!), UNC Asheville, and SUNY Geneseo. Many schools eliminated because of female to male ratio.
And if you like block plan, Cornell College in Iowa.
The Buntrock Scholarship at St Olaf is, I believe, 24k per year as of 2015. They also stack music, dance, and service/leadership scholarships on top. In our experience they do better with merit aid than Grinnell but that is a sample of 1.
They do stack, but St Olaf has a limit on scholarships - no more than 50% of the cost of tuition.
I don’t know much about public LACs - interesting. I will mention that to her, Booajo. Funny about Ohio!