Create resilient living spaces
Environmental problems are complex, and solving them requires considering many different points of view. The Environmental Policy and Planning program is an interdisciplinary social science major addressing the complexities of environmental problems and solutions, offering you a selection of three emphases.
Careers
Graduates have careers in public, private, and nonprofit organizations.
Local, state, federal government
Community planners, policy analysts, directors, watershed managers
Business
Sustainability managers, environmental compliance officers, governmental affairs specialists
Nonprofit
Program managers, planners, organizers; environmental attorneys, public outreach specialist
Have an entrepreneurial spirit?
Start local urban agriculture projects, buying co-ops, environmental services, etc.
What will I learn?
You will develop knowledge and skills in environmental planning and decision-making, public policy, political systems, environmental sciences, land and watershed management , and designing neighborhoods. Our program also prepares you for graduate school in planning, public policy, law, and more. You have three emphases to fulfill your interests:
The public policy emphasis focuses on environmental policy development and implementation; methods of policy analysis; and political, administrative, legal, and economic issues in environmental policy. It provides students with a strong background in the public policy and administrative aspects of environmental studies. Courses focus on environmental law and policy, natural resources law and policy, and global environmental politics.
The environmental planning emphasis focuses on sustainable and resilient land use and planning methods for human settlements and our surrounding environments in an era of climate change and resource scarcity. This emphasis teaches you skills in management of land and natural resources, techniques in geographic information systems, and how to adapt to the accelerating human influences on our environment. Students interested in learning skills in designing and planning community redevelopment; protection and management of farmland, forests, air, waters, flora and fauna at the community and regional levels; and developing comprehensive environmental impact studies may want to select this emphasis.
The environmental design and regional planning emphasis focuses on creative problem-solving techniques in defining, analyzing, and solving problems in the built environment at human scale. Emphasizes basic graphic and verbal presentation techniques and relationships between form, the natural environment, people and function. Students interested in developing skills in the planning and urban design at the community and regional levels may want to select this emphasis.
Choose from three emphases
Here are our course checklists for each major emphasis and our minor: