Students enter the Master of Science in Environmental and Energy Policy program with bachelor’s degrees in an array of disciplines, including the various social sciences and disciplines like biology, environmental science, and engineering. The intent of the master’s program is to provide students skills and knowledge necessary in solving present and future environmental and energy challenges, regardless of the specific organization with which they become involved—whether it is a non-governmental agency (NGO), a business that needs to manage its environmental uses, a consulting firm, or a local, state, or federal agency—our faculty prepare graduate students like no other.

In coursework, students develop an understanding of:

• The existing policy framework that governs social relationships to the environment, including policies that influence energy choices and the use of natural resources;
• How and why an existing policy, legal, and regulatory framework has come to be structured in its current form;
• Methods for analyzing policy choices and for facilitating decision-making processes involving a range of participants including the general public;
• The sociopolitical facets of environmental and energy policy issues.