Academics / Concentrations and Minors

Energy and Environment

Lead the charge for sustainable energy.

Explore the politics and policies of environmental sustainability with a concentration in Energy and Environment. From climate change and natural resource governance to the worldwide energy industry and sustainable approaches to meeting global energy needs, this concentration will equip you to evaluate and improve upon policies affecting the water we drink, the ecosystems we enjoy, and the climate upon which we rely. 

Learn more about the concentration in Energy and Environment as part of the Master of Public Administration or Master of International Development

Areas of Focus

  • Impact evaluation of energy and environmental policies
  • Politics of environmental sustainability and environmental protection
  • Natural resource governance and management
  • Climate change and climate emergencies
  • Global and local energy markets, policies, and practices
  • Environmental impacts on global health and food security
  • Ethical and sustainable approaches to meeting global energy needs

"Professors and students pose at Perk Solar Farm"

Major Courses and Plans of Study

With the energy and environment concentration, you will choose from a range of core courses tailored to you interests as well as taking a set of required degree courses. Explore a few of the concentration courses below, or download a full plan of study for the concentration as part of the MPA or MID program. 

PIA 2502 - Environmental Policy: Local & Global

This course explores the ways in which policy can protect people from environmental and health harms, on local and global scales, and the factors that cause such policy to succeed or fail. We discuss a variety of environmental challenges (e.g., stratospheric ozone depletion, e-waste management, plastic pollution, waste exports); attempted solutions with varying success (e.g., the Montreal Protocol and current efforts to draft an international plastics treaty); and the roots of these problems and barriers to solutions. Environmental issues are often borne from governance structures that enable the undervaluation of sustainable practices and their benefits while externalizing pollution costs. We explore how policies can change this, especially by making companies internalize their pollution costs, and how citizens' oversight of regulatory agencies, including NGO-led litigation, can lead to better policy and protections.

PIA 2522 - Climate Policy: Local & Global

We examine strategies at the local, national and international level to address the climate emergency and to transition to more sustainable and equitable economies. These include mandating climate risks disclosure for financial institutions, climate litigation to hold governments and fossil companies to account and the declining costs and technology advancement for greater deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency. We discuss how to advocate for shifting taxpayers' funds from fossil fuels to renewable energy and for the just transition of fossil fuel reliant communities and how to counter climate misinformation and false solutions.

PIA 2553 - Global Health Policy

The Sustainable Development Goals prioritize investments in human health. We study policy instruments to support the innovation, access, and affordability of medicines and vaccines in developed and developing countries. These include pull mechanisms (e.g., advanced purchase commitments), push mechanisms (government funding for R&D), and public-private partnerships. We explore the national and international responses to COVID-19 to understand the need for and barriers to global pandemic preparedness. We explore how World Trade Organization provisions and bilateral agreements between US/EU and developing countries balance (or fail to) medical innovation with access and affordability to these innovations. We delve into policies to address the public health impacts of industrial agriculture that accelerates antibiotic resistance. We examine how international cooperation has assisted or hindered responses to existing challenges (e.g., addressing maternal/child mortality, AIDs, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, diarrheal diseases). Finally, we consider the global health challenges resulting from the climate emergency.


 

Grid Style A: Torn Gray Background, Faculty Experts, Work with f
Faculty Experts

Work with faculty whose academic backgrounds, fieldwork, and research are at the nexus of environmental policy and practice.

Weber

Jeremy Weber
Professor

Weber’s research delves into the governance of oil and gas extraction, economic sustainability, and agricultural policy.

Gamer-Rabindran

Shanti Gamper-Rabindran
Professor

Trained in economics, environmental management, and law, Gamper-Rabindran examines the role of markets, corporate social responsibility, information disclosure, regulation, and other policy tools in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy in the United States, Europe, and emerging economies.

Murtazashvili

Ilia Murtazashvili
Professor

A specialist in political economy, Murtazashvili studies economic and political institutions that are closely associated with wealth creation and the sustainable use of natural resources.