Environmental Policy Analysis Specialization

For students who seek to understand and employ analytical frameworks that apply to a broad range of environmental issue areas and are critical for strategic environmental policy within organizations that develop, analyze, practice and evaluate environmental and natural resource management.

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    Note that a capstone course used to fulfill the MEM capstone requirement cannot also be used toward fulfilling an MEM Specialization requirement; a capstone course taken once cannot be used to fulfill multiple requirements. Learn more about YSE capstone courses by visiting the MEM Capstone page.

    Program Courses

    Core

    Two courses required.

    Course 1

    Required for all Environmental Policy Analysis students.
    Course Fall 2024 Spring 2025 Fall 2025 Spring 2026
    ENV 834
    Environmental Economics and Policy
      Kotchen
    M,W 9:00-10:20
           

    Course 2

    Choose one of these two courses.
    Course Fall 2024 Spring 2025 Fall 2025 Spring 2026
    ENV 821
    Environmental Policymaking: From Local to Global
    Sanford
    M,W 10:30-11:50
      Sanford  
    ENV 824
    Environmental Law and Policy
      Klee
    M,W 1:00-2:20
      Klee

    Elective

    Students must take at least one course from each of the following two bins

    Economic and Quantitative Methods for Policy Analysis

    Course Fall 2024 Spring 2025 Fall 2025 Spring 2026
    ENV 617
    Real World Environmental Data Science
      Grewal
    M,W 1:00-2:20
      Grewal
    Tentative
    ENV 641
    Market-Based Mechanisms for Water Management
      Pilz
    M 1:00-3:50
    Pilz
    Tentative
     
    ENV 701
    Seminar on Climate Change Economics
      Mendelsohn
    M,W 10:30-11:50
           
    ENV 728
    Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis in the Environmental Sciences
            Reuning-Scherer  
    ENV 730
    Environmental Data Science in R: Introduction to Data Integration and Machine Learning
    Malone
    Tu 2:30-5:20
      Malone  
    ENV 753
    Regression Modeling of Ecological and Environmental Data
    Gregoire
    M,W 10:30-11:50
             
    ENV 758
    Multivariate Data Analysis in the Environmental Sciences
      Reuning-Scherer
    Tu,Th 1:00-2:15
      Reuning-Scherer
    ENV 795
    Nature as Capital: Merging Ecological and Economic Models
      Fenichel
    M,W 10:30-11:50
      Fenichel
    ENV 800
    Energy Economics and Policy Analysis
      Gillingham
    M,W 1:00-2:20
      Gillingham
    ECON 132a
    Econometrics and Data Analysis II
           
    ECON 136b
    Econometrics
           
    ECON 545a
    Microeconomics
           
    ECON 558a
    Statistics and Econometrics
           

    Environmental and Natural Resource Law and Governance

    Course Fall 2024 Spring 2025 Fall 2025 Spring 2026
    ENV 568
    Geoengineering in the Context of Climate Overshoot (Fall-1 Aug 28-Oct 11)
    Smith
    W 4:00-6:50
             
    ENV 639
    Food Systems and Climate Services
    Hernandez-Aguilera
    Tu,Th 10:30-11:50
      Hernandez-Aguilera  
    ENV 696
    YFF:Tribal Forestry:
              Dunning
    ENV 714
    Ocean Conservation and Sustainability: Policy and Strategies
    Muñoz
    M,W 9:00-10:20
             
    ENV 761
    Negotiating International Agreements: The Case of Climate Change
    Biniaz
    M 1:30-3:20
      Biniaz
    Tentative
     
    ENV 774
    "Framing" Climate Migration: Science, Policy, Ethics & Politics of a Growing Crisis
      Gelobter
    Tu 2:30-5:20
           
    ENV 790
    Managing the Clean Energy Transition: Contemporary Energy and Climate Change Policy Making
    Simons
    F 9:25-11:15
             
    ENV 816
    Electric Utilities: an Industry in Transition
    Rhodes
    Th 1:00-3:50
             
    ENV 823
    Energy Law and Policy (Follows Law School Calendar)
              Faculty
    Tentative
    ENV 829
    Pathways to a Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions Future (First Class meets August 27)
    Esty
    Tu 4:00-6:50
             
    ENV 840
    Climate Change Policy and Perspectives
    Klee
    M,W 1:00-2:20
      Klee  
    ENV 852
    Food Systems & US Environmental Law
      Lehner
    W 4:10-6:00
           
    ENV 961
    Environmental Law and Politics: Research and Advanced Topics Seminar
                   

    Additional Electives

    Two courses.

    Environmental Policy Analysis students should also develop expertise in some specific environmental or natural resource problem or issue (e.g., renewable energy, water resources, environmental health, forest management, biological diversity, climate change, conservation, etc.). Students are encouraged to look at other specializations to develop this two-course sequence (e.g., Energy and the Environment, Ecosystem Conservation and Management, Water Resource Management, and others). The core requirements of other specializations are a natural fit here. Students may also develop the sequence based on their own interests, but should make the case that the two courses are consistent with developing an area of topical concentration. The two-course sequence must be approved by the specialization coordinator prior to the student’s last semester.
    Course Fall 2024 Spring 2025 Fall 2025 Spring 2026
    ENV 588
    Climate Tech Innovation and Commercialization
      Faculty
    Tu 2:40-5:40
           
    ENV 697
    Science for Policy and Practice: A Seminar
      Bradford
    Tu 1:00-2:20
           
    ENV 794
    Climate Ethics: Principles and Model Applications
      Rao
    Tu 1:00-2:20
           
    LC Policy Illustration

    Learning Community

    There is a corresponding “Learning Community” for each specialization, where anyone interested in the topic can find related news, spotlights, colleagues, and events.

     

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