Recommended Programs by Discipline

Feeling overwhelmed? Need a place to start? Here is a little more information on well regarded programs. Programs are categorized by discipline, and are in alphabetical order.

Biology and Ecology, Evolution & Behavior

This section includes more traditional biology programs and programs specifically focused towards Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. These programs were recommended by Professors Mark Davis and Jerald Dosch.

Cornell University

The Field attempts to provide comprehensive training in ecology and evolutionary biology primarily leading to a Ph.D. degree. Specific subject areas and concentrations include: Ecology (animal ecology, applied ecology, biogeochemistry, community and ecosystem ecology, limnology, oceanography, physiological ecology, plant ecology, population ecology, theoretical ecology, vertebrate zoology) and Evolutionary Biology (ecological genetics, paleobiology, population biology, Evolutionary Biology). The collective specializations of the faculty present a student with a considerable depth of experience in most areas of ecology and evolutionary biology. Beyond this, Cornell’s Biological Sciences is one of the leading groups of its kind in the United States.  www.eeb.cornell.edu/field/EEB.html

Duke University

The Department of Biology offers a diverse and integrative graduate program for students seeking the Ph.D. in the biological sciences. The department provides training opportunities in the following broad range of research areas: ecology (including behavioral ecology, population biology, community ecology, physiological ecology, ecosystem analysis, and biogeochemistry), cell and molecular biology (including cellular physiology, molecular genetics, developmental biology, developmental genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics, in both plant and animal systems), functional organismal biology (including comparative physiology, functional morphology, biomechanics, and animal behavior), and evolutionary biology (including morphology, biomechanics, and animal behavior), and evolutionary biology (including population genetics, evolutionary ecology, evolutionary morphology, macroevolution, biogeography, and systematics). Faculty also participate in the university programs in Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Ecology, and Developmental Biology. These programs link researchers across different departments and schools at Duke, most notably the basic sciences departments in the Duke University Medical Center and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.  biology.duke.edu/graduate/degree-programs

Stanford University

The PhD program trains students for careers in research and teaching. In addition to a wide range of courses, the PhD program offers informal but intensive instruction in laboratories and seminars, characterized by close contact between students and their faculty advisors. Biology is one of fourteen home programs  in the Biosciences, which span the School of Medicine and the School of Humanities and Sciences.  biology.stanford.edu/academics/phd-program/admissions

University of Chicago

The clustered Ph.D. programs in Ecological, Integrative, and Evolutionary Biology at The University of Chicago provide training for research and teaching in anatomy, behavior, ecology, evolutionary and organismal biology, and paleontology. Three connected academic units make up this cluster: The Departments of Ecology and Evolution (E&E), Organismal Biology and Anatomy (OBA), and the interdisciplinary and multi-institutional Committee on Evolutionary Biology (CEB).

Students and faculty in this cluster have strong and ongoing connections with many departments and institutions, including the Departments of Anthropology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Geophysical Sciences, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and Statistics. In addition, The Committee on Evolutionary Biology includes faculty from all four Divisions of the University, the Field Museum, Brookfield Zoo, and Argonne National Laboratory. gradprogram.bsd.uchicago.edu

University of California-Berkeley

The Department’s focus is on structure and function in the evolution of diverse biological systems: organismal morphology and physiology, development, genetics, animal behavior, biomechanics, ecology, systematics, extinct life forms and paleoenvironments, and the evolution of life. We work with animals, plants and other organisms employing molecular and organismal approaches to questions of biological organization and diversity. Our work spans the levels of the biological hierarchy from molecules to ecosystems. The research of several of our faculty and the content of many of our courses deal specifically with the origins and biology of humans and our relationship to other life forms on this planet.  ib.berkeley.edu

University of California-Davis

The University of California, Davis is one of the nation’s premier institutions in the Biological Sciences. It has an exceptionally strong and diverse faculty in Ecology and the Environmental and Agricultural Sciences. Prospective applicants have the opportunity to complete graduate degrees through separate graduate groups in a number of areas. Graduate Groups in Ecology, Animal Behavior, Plant Biology, and Population Biology are the four that are of principal interest to students in the area of Ecology.  www.eve.ucdavis.edu/graduate.html

University of Montana

In addition to M.S. degrees in biochemistry, microbiology, organismal biology and ecology, and wildlife biology (in cooperation with the School of Forestry), the Division of Biological Sciences offers the Ph.D. degree. Graduate studies within the division are organized into two programs, Integrative Microbiology & Biochemistry and Organismal Biology and Ecology. Students may specialize in a broad array of subjects including avian biology, biochemistry, conservation biology, ecology and behavior, evolutionary genetics, microbial ecology, microbiology (environmental and medical), molecular biology and others. The doctoral degrees are identified as either Integrative Microbiology & Biochemistry or Organismal Biology and Ecology.

Graduate students do thesis and dissertation research in on-campus facilities and at the biological station on Flathead Lake north of campus. Other options for research sites include a variety of local biotech company laboratories, the NIH-USPH Rocky Mountain Research Laboratory in Hamilton, and a variety of field sites.  www.umt.edu/grad/Programs/Biological%20Sciences.php

University of Washington

The Biology Department at the University of Washington is ideal for the student seeking a world-class graduate education in a department without boundaries between disciplines. Graduate training in our department prepares students for careers in academia, private research institutes, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations requiring expertise in the biological sciences. The more than 50 faculty and ca. 100 graduate students within our department have research interests that span a wide taxonomic range of study organisms (plants, animals, fungi, ‘protists’) at all levels of organization (molecular, cellular, organismal, ecosystem), using a variety of theoretical and experimental approaches in the laboratory and in the field. Weekly departmental seminars bring in prominent researchers to meet with faculty and graduate students. The opportunity for graduate students to develop a personalized interdisciplinary program of study is unparalleled. Click here for details on faculty research areas. www.biology.washington.edu/programs/graduate

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Department of Wildlife Ecology had its origin in 1933 when the University of Wisconsin-Madison created a Chair in Game Management for Professor Aldo Leopold. Six years later, Leopold formed the Department of Wildlife Management, the first academic department in the world ever dedicated specifically to the emerging field of wildlife management.

In 1966, the present Department name was adopted because ecology rather than management more appropriately described the Department’s emphasis in research and teaching.  wildlife.wisc.edu

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Diversity and balance of faculty specialties contribute to the quality of the Biology Department. Members specialize in areas of zoology, botany, microbiology, genetics, physiology and ecology.  www.uwsp.edu/biology/Pages/Programs/GradProgs.aspx

top of page

Economics

This section includes primarily programs with Ph.D. programs in economics. All the programs offer courses or a focus in the area of environmental economics. The programs were recommended by Professor Sarah West.

Duke University

Duke University offers a world-class doctoral program in economics, featuring a vibrant faculty of exceptional scholars and teachers along with superior research facilities. The faculty is dedicated to anchoring all teaching and research firmly in the core disciplines of microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics. The first year of the program lays the critical foundation necessary for later work in field courses and dissertation-level research.  econ.duke.edu/phd-program/degree-reqs

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Economics Department’s highly regarded doctoral program annually admits between 23 and 30 students. This program was ranked as the best economics Ph.D. program in the United States in the most recent National Research Council study. More than 70 percent of the Department’s Ph.D. candidates obtain their degrees in five years or fewer. Doctoral students take required courses in microeconomic theory, macroeconomics, econometrics, and economic history. Students are also expected to complete four fields in economics (two major and two minor) and to pass general examinations in their major fields. The field options include public finance, industrial organization, international economics, monetary economics, labor economics, economic history, economic development, econometrics, financial economics, and advanced theory.

Graduates of the Ph.D. program teach in leading economics departments and business schools. They work on congressional staffs and government advisory councils studying economic, environmental, regulatory, and scientific policy, and with organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the National Economic Council, the Council of Economic Advisors, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury Department.  economics.mit.edu/graduate

University of California-Berkeley

UC Berkeley’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics graduate program in agricultural and resource economics produces outstanding researchers in development economics, environmental and energy economics, international trade, and agricultural and resource policy.

Students enrolling in their doctoral program complete a rigorous course of study, including microeconomic theory (offered by the Department of Economics), econometrics, and field courses offered by ARE, the Department of Economics, and the Haas School of Business. A number of our graduate students also take doctoral-level courses in the Department of Statistics.  are.berkeley.edu/graduate-program

University of California-Davis

The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis offers graduate training in the economics of agriculture, international development, and the environment and natural resources. Their program is rigorous and demanding, but tempered with humanity.  They offer two degrees: M.S. and Ph.D.  are.ucdavis.edu/graduate

University of California-Santa Barbara

The Economics and Environmental Science (EES) Training Program at UCSB is a doctoral level multidisciplinary training program designed to produce environmental economists with a deep and expert knowledge of economics and a relevant and substantive understanding and appreciation of the natural science that underlies their economics research. Students prepare for research careers in a number of professional settings including academia, government and consulting.

Although our primary objective is to train the intellectual leaders of the next generation of environmental economists, there are two tracks within the program. The primary track within EES, the environmental economics emphasis, imparts depth in economics, accompanied by additional strength in an area of natural science. A secondary track, involving just a few students, the environmental science emphasis, imparts depth of knowledge in an area of natural science, accompanied by additional strength in economics.  www.ees.ucsb.edu

University of Maryland

The University of Maryland’s Department of Economics is ranked in the top 20 economics programs in the country in the most recent National Academy of Sciences study. The Department has about 35 faculty members. The size and diversity of the faculty permits study in virtually every major theoretical and applied area of economics including advanced macro, advanced micro, behavioral and experimental economics, comparative institutional economics, econometrics, economic development, economic history, environmental and natural resource economics, industrial organization, international trade and finance, labor economics, political economy, and public economics.

Although it is a large department, Maryland emphasizes close student-faculty interaction. Students are encouraged to meet frequently with their advisors to discuss their progress in the program. An active set of workshops provides a supportive environment for students who are working on their dissertations. Graduate faculty members are regularly accessible to students.  www.econ.umd.edu/landing/Graduate

University of Minnesota

The Applied Economics Graduate Program at the University of Minnesota is a unique partnership of applied economists from across the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. Participating academic units include the Department of Applied Economics, the Department of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, the Division of Health Policy and Management, and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.  www.apec.umn.edu/graduate-program

Yale University

“Yale’s Economics Department offers a challenging and rigorous academic program, a distinguished and accessible faculty, and a friendly and supportive environment for study. Our faculty covers a broad range of research and teaching interests. Courses and seminars span the whole spectrum of economics: from the mathematics of general equilibrium theory to economic history; from statistical and econometric methodology to its applications in macro economics, labor economics and demography; from macroeconomic policy to antitrust and environmental regulation; from the United States and developed economies to the developing nations of Latin America, Asia and Africa; from international trade and finance to the theory of public choice.  www.econ.yale.edu/graduate/index.htm

top of page

Environmental Science and Policy Joint Program

American University School of International Service

American University’s Global Environmental Politics Program offers a flexible, specialized, cutting-edge graduate education in global environmental politics.  www.american.edu/sis/gep

Bard Center For Environmental Policy

At the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, they believe that solutions to contemporary environmental challenges such as climate change should be tackled from an integrated perspective. Their students are given rigorous scientific, economic, and political training, and they enter the professional world equipped with the knowledge and practical experience necessary to create thoughtful and competent policy. The intensive, campus-based first-year curriculum requires students to synthesize information from a range of disciplines and sources. Classroom experience is strengthened by a 4-6 month internship that provides students with valuable hands-on experience and facilitates entry into the job market.  www.bard.edu/cep

Boston University

The Master of Arts in Global Policy (MGP) is a rigorous year-and-a-half program that provides students with breadth of training in the various facets of global policy as well as in-depth training in a chosen functional policy specialization including Environmental Policy, Developmental Policy and International Public Health Policy.  www.bu.edu/pardeeschool/academics/graduate/ma-in-global-policy-mgp/

Columbia University

Columbia has two masters programs that link science & policy. Both are 12-month programs.

Duke University

Duke University’s two-year Master of Environmental Management degree, with its emphasis on natural and social sciences, trains students to understand the scientific basis of environmental problems, as well as the social, political, and economic factors that influence policy solutions. Duke allows you to design an individualized program that will prepare you for leadership in the corporate, nonprofit, government or academic sector – wherever you see yourself making a difference.  nicholas.duke.edu/programs/masters

Indiana University

The School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University offers a joint master’s degree in environmental science and one in public affairs with concentrations in environmental policy and natural resource management, and also, in sustainable development. Students earn two degrees in 2.5 to 3 years.  www.indiana.edu/~speaweb/academics/mpa_mses.php

Michigan State

Michigan State has a Doctoral Specialization in Environmental Science and Policy. Students in the specialization come from a wide range of disciplines in the humanities, social and natural sciences. They all take a core of four courses in the specialization. Although there is no official specialization for Masters students, students in all affiliated departments can take the core courses as well I believe.  environment.msu.edu/specialization/index.html

Monterey Institute of International Studies

The International Environmental Policy Program (IEP) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies combines a strong science core, especially in conservation biology, with economics and energy modeling in the service of policy design and implementation.  www.miis.edu/academics/programs/environmentalpolicy

Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University’s Center for Sustainable Environments offers an MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy. This degree program combines required interdisciplinary core courses with a breadth of specialized classes from across the University. The degree program is characterized by strong advising by accomplished faculty for individualized student programs of multidisciplinary study, as well as research and applied projects that often reach across campus and into the greater community. The diverse student population including international and minority students forms a strong peer cohort that provides support for study and extracurricular adventures. The two-year program’s rigorous training in the natural and political sciences prepares graduates for successful environmental careers in industry, government, and the non-profit sector.  nau.edu/CEFNS/NATSCI/SESES/Degrees-Programs/Graduate/MS-Environmental-Sciences-and-Policy/

North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources graduate programs emphasize hands-on research, teaching and real world field opportunities. Our overriding goal is to create professionals capable of contributing to society’s welfare through the wise use of our planet’s forests, fisheries, wildlife and other natural resources.  cnr.ncsu.edu/fer/grad/

Oxford University

The ECI’s flagship MSc/MPhil programme trains young international leaders in all aspects of environmental change and management, preparing them to be confident and aware practical decision-makers. www.eci.ox.ac.uk/msc/index.html

Pace University

Today’s complex environmental challenges require the work of policy professionals with broad, interdisciplinary training. Business, government, non-profits, military, the media—all of today’s sectors—need access to skilled environmental expertise. Pace University’s Master of Arts in Environmental Policy is preparing a new generation of innovative policymakers in this critical field; change-makers who can design policy initiatives to meet 21st century environmental issues. www.pace.edu/academics/graduate-students/degrees/environmental-policy-ma

Few universities throughout the New York metropolitan region — or the nation — offer the focused and applied professional training that you will find in the Master of Science in Environmental Science (MSES) graduate program at Pace University. Students completing this program will be prepared to address local and global environmental problems facing our planet using cutting-edge technology and scientific research. In addition, many of our graduates go on to further study, such as PhD programs in ecology. www.pace.edu/dyson/programs/ms-environmental-science-plv

Ryerson University

Ryerson University offers a PhD and a Master’s degree in Environmental Applied Science and Management. These multidisciplinary programs are for graduate students seeking advanced study in a professionally-based environmental program that provides research in a broad variety of environmental fields.  The doctoral program (PhD) offers a program focusing on two fields: Environmental Science and Policy and Environmental Management and Decision Making.  www.ryerson.ca/graduate/programs/ensciman/about/

State University of New York

The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, in Syracuse, offers MS (and PhD) degrees in Environmental Science with a policy focus. Alternatively, they have a wide variety of science-based degrees and students have the option of taking a concurrent degree at Syracuse University.  www.esf.edu/es/graduate

University of California-Berkeley

There are 2 programs of interest at UC- Berkeley:

The Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management – they are not exactly an MS program. Their MS is basically the first two years of PhD work, which is very different from the needs and expectations of a lot of students wanting to do an environmental science/policy degree; but it works as a joint degree with something else, and can be a fall-back option for a student who decides they want out of the PhD track.

University of California-Santa Barbara

Bren School of Environmental Science & Management in Santa Barbara, CA.  www.bren.ucsb.edu/about

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Colorado at Boulder’s graduate program in environmental studies, which explicitly combines science and the study of decisionmaking.  www.colorado.edu/envs/graduate-students

University of Delaware

The Center for Energy & Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware has a master of energy & environmental policy. There is a science/engineering requirement. Approximately 40 percent of admitted students have prior degrees in a science or engineering discipline.  ceep.udel.edu/academic-progra/graduate-programs/

University of East Anglia

The Environmental Science Faculty at the University of East Anglia offers several Masters levels degrees that would satisfy the joint interest.  www.uea.ac.uk/env

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan has excellent Masters and PhD programs in its School of Natural Resources and
Environment.  www.snre.umich.edu

University of Oregon

Building on the University of Oregon’s long tradition of environmental research and activism, their program sets the standard in interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration with more than 100 participating faculty from thirty campus programs and departments. ENVS degree programs are flexible and tailored to meet specific educational and career goals, providing students with the opportunities to work alongside world-class scholars and researchers, develop concrete skills and analytical abilities, and gain hands-on experience relevant to careers in government agencies, non-governmental organizations, private industry, and academic fields.  envs.uoregon.edu

University of Vermont

The University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.  www.uvm.edu/rsenr

University of Wisconsin, Madison

The University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies offers a wide range of MA programs that can combine science & policy.  www.nelson.wisc.edu

Wageningen University

If you are interested in studying in the Netherlands, check out the various programs of Wageningen University. The MSc Environmental Sciences has a specialization in Environmental Policy (www.mes.wur.nl). Since this program gives a lot of freedom for students to chose their own courses, you can develop your own program in which you combine environmental sciences with courses in environmental policy (see www.enp.wur.nl for a list of environmental policy courses you can choose from).

Yale University

Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies offers interdisciplinary master’s degrees; a Masters of Environmental Management and a Masters of Environmental Science, both of which combine science and policy.  environment.yale.edu

top of page

Environmental Studies

Yes, you can go to graduate school in Environmental Studies! Programs range from specifically Environmental Studies to programs that embody the philosophy of Environmental Studies. Recommended by Professor Roopali Phadke.

University of California-Los Angeles

Producing geographers of high quality is the principal goal of the graduate program, designed primarily for students pursuing the Ph.D degree. The Master of Arts degree, which involves coursework and a thesis, serves as an essential building-block of the doctoral program. The doctorate is awarded to those students who have achieved the level of geographical knowledge and training required of a professional geographer. The degree recognizes the ability of students to make scholarly contributions in their fields of specialization and to undertake advanced research in those areas. Students can ‘major’ in Environmental Studies.  www.geog.ucla.edu

University of California-Santa Cruz

The program draws principally from two areas of knowledge: ecology and social science. Our interests in ecology include conservation biology and global change ecology (the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem processes, and reducing human impacts on other species) and agroecology (where ecological knowledge is used to inform human management of nature for the production of natural products for human use in ways that minimize environmental impacts). Our interests in social science bridge the dimension between environmental policy analysis (which looks for the best management strategies within the frame of existing social institutions and practices) and political economy of the environment (which examines the deeper social processes through which the institutions that structure our social and ecological agendas have been constructed). These all are historically independent fields and UCSC’s program is one of the first to link them.

Graduates of the program are expected to be informed in all of these fields, to have deep intellectual strength in their area of specialty, and to have made substantial contributions toward the understanding of an environmental problem. We expect our doctoral students to be as skilled and intellectually rigorous within their research emphasis as are students emerging from more traditional departments and also to possess the knowledge needed to understand, analyze, and communicate in different but highly relevant fields of study. This expectation of intellectual breadth as well as disciplinary depth is a central goal of our doctoral program.  envs.ucsc.edu/graduate

University of Colorado-Boulder

The graduate program of the Department of Geography offers both M.A. and Ph.D degrees. The program’s basic purpose is to train scholars and professionals to produce and disseminate knowledge and to make outstanding contributions in the public and private sectors.  admissions.colorado.edu/graduate/programs/geography

University of Michigan

At the School of Natural Resources and Environment, our approach to environmental education and research has evolved to mirror the complexities of the environmental issues that confront us. We understand our natural and physical environment is an intertwined, multifaceted system, and approach our pedagogy the same way. While we are grounded in robust environmental research, we expand our thinking and approach beyond the confines of traditional environmental education and draw upon other disciplines – public health, architecture, business, law – to develop ways to manage and conserve our natural resources.  www.snre.umich.edu

University of Montana-Missoula

The Environmental Studies Program (EVST) was established as a graduate program in 1969. Our objectives are to improve the quality of life and to protect our planet. To move towards those objectives, sensitive and innovative approaches to environmental problems are required. Our approach is interdisciplinary, stressing environmental science, environmental policy and environmental thought and literature. After taking a core course in each of these areas, students design a course of study based upon their interests and needs. Protecting the earth and planet requires more than interdisciplinary thinking; informed “activism” is also necessary. EVST requires every student to complete a course in activism. Our interdisciplinary-activist emphasis is unique among graduate programs. While we have had two Rhodes Scholars in the last decade, we are equally proud of the habitat saved, wilderness gained, waters protected, roads obliterated, and toxin discharges reduced, through the leadership efforts of EVST grads.  www.umt.edu/grad/default.php

Yale University

The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies recognizes that it is as important to solve problems for local watersheds as it is to address issues related to global climate change. Likewise, it is as important to coach tomorrow’s leaders to get their hands dirty with fieldwork as it is to train them to analyze and formulate policy. To address the breadth and scope of such a wide range of environmental challenges, the faculty of the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies created nine focal areas through which to channel teaching and research. Some of these focal areas are new, and some have been at the heart of the School’s mission for a century. At the core of each area is the goal of facilitating outstanding teaching, research, and outreach. Each focal area has a core group of faculty as its keystone. These faculty members, led by a coordinator from the School’s senior faculty, teach classes, guide students, and conduct research to meet the goals set forth by the mission statement of their focal areas. Most faculty are involved with more than one focal area. Focal areas include, Ecology, Ecosystems, and Biodiversity, The Social Ecology of Conservation and Development: Assessing Social and Environmental Change, Forestry, Forest Science, and the Management of Forests for Conservation and Development, Global Change Science and Policy, Environment, Health, and Policy, Industrial Environmental Management, Policy, Economics, and Law, Urban Ecology and Environmental Design, and Water Science, Policy, and Management. environment.yale.edu

top of page

Geology

Professor Kelly MacGregor recommends the following geology programs.

Duke University

The mission of the Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences is research and education focused on a description and understanding of the processes that affect the behavior of the Earth’s surface, its oceans, climate, and interior. The Division faculty advise and teach PhD students and undergraduates, and are engaged in advising and teaching professional master’s degree (MEM, CEM) students in programs focusing on global change, coastal environments, and energy and resources.  www.nicholas.duke.edu/eos

University of California-Santa Cruz

The department of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, offers both master’s and doctoral programs. By developing habits of critical analysis and thorough documentation, as well as skills in field, laboratory, and theoretical investigation, the graduate programs in Earth sciences prepare students for productive careers in research, teaching or industry. The 20 faculty meved in the graduate programs represent a variety of academic backgrounds and rsearch areas ng actively pursued at UC Santa Cruz include: the evolution of continental margins and orogenic belts; crustal dynamics and geologic processes occurring at plate boundaries; seismological problems of the Earth’s crust, mantle, and core; paleoecology; hydrogeology; paleomagnetism; experimental studies of the Earth’s interior; geodynamics; geomorphology; glaciology; paleoclimatology; planetary science; coastal processes; and geologic and seismic hazards. The Earth sciences faculty and students at Santa Cruz maintain close working ties with the United States Geological Survey, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and NASA Ames Laboratory.  eps.ucsc.edu/

University of Colorado-Boulder

This is a research-oriented department offering individually designed graduate programs. The department does not have a formal program of rigidly defined courses leading to the MS or PhD in geological sciences, but offers the following areas of concentration: sedimentology, stratigrahy, economic geology of mineral deposits, fossil fuels, hydrogeology and water resources, geophysics, isotope geology, paleobiology, mineralogy, remote sensing, Quaternary studies, neotectonics, volcanology, global change, geodesy, and geochemistry.

Research capitalizes on the proximity of the campus to the vast natural laboratory of Colorado and the western U.S., but also is global in scope. Several research centers and institutes are affiliated with the department, including the Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center (EMARC), the Center for the Study of Earth from Spaces (CSES), the Cooperative Institute for Enviornmental Research (CIRES), the bp Visualization Center, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), the Center for Astrobiology, and the University Museum. Related areas of study are geography; astrophysical and planetary sciences; atmospheric and oceanic sciences (PAOS); physics and geophysics; ecology and evolutionary (EEB).  admissions.colorado.edu/graduate/programs/geologicalsciences

University of Vermont

“The University of Vermont Geology department has an intense, highly personal graduate program at the Masters level. We offer three degrees, an MS in Geology and Masters of Arts and Masters of Science in teaching with a concentration in Geology. Most of our students earn the MS in Geology pursuing original research along with a faculty mentor.

We typically admit 3 to 5 students a year from a pool of 25 to 30. Almost all successful candidates visit our campus and meet potential advisors before they are accepted. We urge you to contact advisors of interest before applying to learn whether they are taking students this year and what projects they will be pursuing. We only accept students we can fund with either a teaching or research assistantship and based on sufficient progress, we support our students for two full academic years.”  www.uvm.edu/geology/?Page=masters.html&SM=gradsubmenu.html

University of Washington

The Department of Geography at the University of Washington is one of North America’s leading centers for graduate training in: urban, social and political geography, economic geography, development studies, cartography and geographic information systems, and society and environment. The department offers over 40 courses in advanced degree programs for both the MA and Ph.D.  depts.washington.edu/geog/

top of page

History

These History graduate programs are recommended by Professor Chris Wells.

Case Western Reserve University

The Department of History offers both the M.A. and the Ph.D. in history, emphasizing its two focused Ph.D. programs, in Social History & Policy (SHP) and in the History of Science, Technology, Environment & Medicine (STEM). In practice, these two programs are closely related. The department also joins with the Law School to offer an M.A. in history/J.D. double degree program. Informally, students can also combine graduate study in History with the certificate or degree programs of the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations.  www.case.edu/artsci/hsty/graduate.html

Stanford University

The History Department at Stanford, with more than 50 faculty members, offers many different ways to study the past. We have courses on medieval Japan and modern America, on the development of opera and foreign policy, family life and the origins of anti-Semitism.  history.stanford.edu

University of California-Berkeley

The Berkeley history graduate program represents a rich spectrum of research interests, collaborations, and approaches spanning the fields of: Africa, America Since 1607, Ancient Greece/Rome, Britain Since 1509, Byzantine, Early Modern Europe, East Asia (China or Japan), Economic History, History of Science, Jewish History, Late Modern Europe since 1789, Latin America, Medieval Europe, Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The depth and breadth of our program, and the strengths of our faculty members, students, and other professionals provide an especially stimulating and congenial setting for graduate training.

Comprising the Department are over 50 full-time faculty members, a number of distinguished emeritus faculty and visiting professors, 220 graduate students, and 13 support staff. The Department is the center of a history community at Berkeley that includes faculty, professionals, and student colleagues from other departments, the Area Studies Centers, the Townsend Center for the Humanities, the campus archives, informal study groups, and other resources.  history.berkeley.edu/

University of Kansas

The History Department at the University of Kansas offers an outstanding opportunity for the most talented students to become professional historians. Its faculty include internationally-prominent scholars, and its graduates go on to hold positions of importance in the profession. We offer great flexibilially to participate in the History section of the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate. The Carnegie Initiative is intended to examine how graduate education is conducted in six key disciplines, and to develop and test innovative approaches. In this context, the Department is currently recasting its program, with the goal of becoming the benchmark institution in the discipline. We are redesigning the curriculum to emphasize professionalization, preparing our graduates to take the careers of their choice and to become not only practitioners, but also stewards of their discipline. Graduate students are playing key roles in the re-creation of our program. It is an exciting time to join the department.  www.history.ku.edu/graduate

University of Wisconsin-Madison

In 1867, William Francis Allen becadepartment covers a broad range of specialties in African, Central Asian, Comparative World, East Asian, European, History of Education, Latin American, Middle Eastern, South Asian, Southeast Asian, US/American, Women’s History and a joint Ph.D. with History of Science. Each day history is made. Along with studies, research and thought-provoking discoveries, knowledge is progressively gathered and distributed to you via the department’s talks, lectures, and courses.  history.wisc.edu/graduate.htm

top of page

Human-Environment Geography

This section includes programs recommended by Professor Bill Moseley that are particularly strong in the area of human-environment geography.

Clark University

The Graduate School of Geography at Clark has an internationally renowned reputation and is an acknowledged leader in the field. Consistently ranked as one of the top 10 graduate programs by the National Research Council, Clark Geography enables graduate students to train with top professionals and participate in a world-class research community. The Graduate School brings together talented students and recognized experts within the intimate atmosphere of a small urban university.  www2.clarku.edu/departments/geography/graduate/prospective-students/

Louisiana State University

Since its inception in the late 1920s, the LSU Department of Geography and Anthropology has been one of the world’s premier centers for teaching and research in select subfields of geography and anthropology. It is housed in the Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex in the heart of LSU’s more than 2,000-acre campus. Located at the gateway between the Mississippi Valley and Latin America, the department offers a wide array of field and regional expertise in each of these regions. Current faculty and students conduct field research in the Mississippi Valley and American South, Central America, the Caribbean, and Ecuador, as well as China, Japan, Korea, and Europe. Geography at LSU explores the ecological and locational relations of nature and culture through field, archival, and quantitative research, while anthropology studies people and their cultures – both past and present.  ga.lsu.edu/graduate-program/

University of California-Berkeley

Geography is an inquiry into the patterns and processes that make up the surface of the Earth. It is a broad field of inquiry that, in our department, includes glaciers and climate change, the origins of agriculture and the evolution of plant life, the culture of cities and the dynamics of the global economy. Such a wide range of themes gives each student great freedom to choose a research topic, develop an intellectual style, and select approaches to gathering evidence and making persuasive arguments. That freedom also includes opportunities to go outside of the department and make use of the tremendous resources of the campus as a whole. Our goal is to help each student find his or her own combination of intellectual rigor, creativity, and independence.  geography.berkeley.edu/grad

University of Texas-Austin

The Geography Department specializes in field study and international research, a specialization made possible by The University of Texas’ extensive faculty and facilities in area studies, languages, and natural sciences. The department offers rigorous programs in cultural, historical, and environmental geography, urban geography, landscape ecology and biogeography, and earth science, in addition to area studies of the Southwest and Mexico, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Europe. Along with environmental lab and field training, the graduate program features instruction in the use of a variety of computer applications, including Geographic Information Science, and study of technology-society interactions.  liberalarts.utexas.edu/geography/graduate/programs.php

University of Wisconsin-Madison

For the past 75 years, UW-Madison has been home to one of the top ranked geography departments in the nation. The strength of our department is reflected in our ability to attract top-caliber students, compete for significant research funding, and publish foundational scholarly work. Although we are a small department by national standards, we are able to make significant and lasting contributions to key theoretical and methodological aspects of the discipline, in particular, with work that establishes new research areas or find new linkages across fields.  www.geography.wisc.edu/graduate

top of page

Law

Environmental Law is an increasingly popular field. Here are a couple of schools that offer a focus in an environmental aspect of law.

Arizona State University

A Master of Legal Studies in Sustainability Law is offered through ASU Online. In an area evolving so rapidly, the online Sustainability Law emphasis prepares students to employ legal constructs alongside technological tools to accelerate and support sustainable goals through world-class instruction, cutting-edge faculty research, and meaningful experience opportunities. Sustainably using the planet’s finite resources to support a growing global population with ever-increasing needs is a challenge that has and will continue to shape the future of environmental law and policy. Scientific and legal innovations will be instrumental in meeting the needs of a growing global population in the midst of the sustainability movement. Faculty experts research and teach in every major area of sustainability policy, including climate change, water, energy, and environmental protection. Student opportunities include national environmental moot court competitions, externships, research projects, and mentorship. ASU Law also partners with ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and School of Sustainability, giving students access to a vast network of top scholars and cutting-edge projects. asuonline.asu.edu/online-degree-programs/graduate/law-sustainability-emphases-mls

University of Colorado-Boulder

“The law faculty at the University of Colorado seeks to offer a curriculum that gives our students access to the best comprehensive, “all-around” legal education that any student can obtain in the nation. Our curriculum allows students to deeply explore our school’s signature areas of academic strength, including Environmental and Natural Resources Law; American Indian Law; International and Comparative Law; Juvenile and Family Law; Business and Commercial Law; Health Law; Constitutional Law; Jurisprudence, Legal History and Legal Theory; Tax Law; and Telecommunications and Intellectual Property Law. Our faculty places the highest emphasis on teaching excellence and we are committed to our students’ success. We look forward to exploring the law together, both inside the classroom and beyond.”  www.colorado.edu/law

Vermont Law School

“The core J.D. curriculum focuses on legal doctrine and analysis, emphasizes the broader social context of the law, and provides education in the skills and values needed for effective law practice. The flexible J.D. program offers an opportunity both for concentration in a particular area of the law and for a broad preparation suited to general practice in all 50 states. In the first year, students receive a solid foundation for the study of law through exposure to the basic subject areas as well as techniques of legal analysis, fundamental legal skills, and perspectives on the origins, function, and development of the legal system. During their second and third years, students take full advantage of the breadth and depth of courses offered at Vermont Law School. While a certain number of courses are still required, students virtually design their own second and third year curricula. Choices from VLS’ extensive list of course topics range from American Legal History to Women in Law.”  www.vermontlaw.edu

top of page

Policy

These policy programs cover a broad range of interests and focuses within policy and environmental policy. This section includes programs often promoted by Macalester, and programs recommended by Professor Chuck Green.

Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

The Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy trains sophisticated public managers and policymakers, who apply innovative, systems-based thinking to environmental issues. The program challenges students to think systemically and act pragmatically. To meet this challenge, we offer a high-quality graduate program in management and policy analysis that emphasizes practical skills and is enriched by ecological and planetary science. www.sipa.columbia.edu

Cornell University

The Field of Natural Resources offers two research degrees–the Masters of Science (MS) and Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD). Students work closely with the faculty in Natural Resources and other fields. They also interact with scientists, resource managers, and educators from agencies and organizations including the US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and The Nature Conservancy.  dnr.cornell.edu/cals/dnr/graduate/index.cfm

Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment

The Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University is designed to train these environmental professionals–those who will work within the private and public sector to sustain the environment, and those who will work within academic and other research institutions to understand the human impact on our planet. Whether you are an undergraduate, master’s professional or doctoral student the Nicholas School will fulfill your desire to know more about the Earth’s environment and will prepare you for a career in environmental management and preservation.  www.nicholas.duke.edu

Harvard University

The Master in Public Policy (MPP) program, through a rigorous two year sequence of studies, equips future leaders with the conceptual framework and the specific skills they will need to be successful in public service. The initial emphasis of the curriculum is on building a strong conceptual foundation for analysis, management, and advocacy. We help students learn to confront complicated and unfamiliar issues—asking good questions, determining the nature and dimensions of the problem at hand, exploring the range of possible solutions that should be considered, and assessing the capacity of public institutions to execute one or more of these solutions.  www.ksg.harvard.edu

Indiana University-Bloomington, School of Public and Environmental Affairs

The Master of Public Affairs degree at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs is an interdisciplinary, professional program designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary for a wide variety of public service careers. The MPA program broadens students’ understanding of economic, political, legal, and social issues encompassing public service while also developing expertise in one or more specialization areas.  www.spea.indiana.edu/home

Johns Hopkins University – The Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies –SAIS— of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., is one of the nation’s leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. The school is neither a vocational, purely scientific, nor a liberal arts school dedicated to the pursuit of learning for learning’s sake. At SAIS, the wisdom of universities, business, and labor merge with the knowledge and expertise of those currently engaged in government, foreign affairs and international economic practice.  www.sais-jhu.edu

Syracuse University

The goal of the M.P.A. program is to educate the next generation of leaders for all levels of government in the United States and abroad, and for related nonprofit or private organizations. Its three-pronged interdisciplinary curriculum ensures that all graduates understand the political, economic, and social context of public administration; achieve substantial competency in organization design and analysis and in management and administrative techniques; and gain experience in applying qualitative and quantitative analysis to public policy issues.  www.maxwell.syr.edu

University of California-Berkeley

The Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) offers both the Ph.D and M.S. degrees in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. The degree programs address environmental problems of major social and political impact, which are based in the biological and physical sciences. Two general types of education are needed to produce people qualified to address these hybrid problems: 1) broadly based interdisciplinary education, and 2) disciplinary education in relevant fields supplemented with exposure to cross-disciplinary communication and problem solving. The ESPM program offers both types of education.  espm.berkeley.edu

The MPP degree is earned in a two-year, full-time program consisting of a core curriculum, a policy internship in the summer after completion of the first year, a second-year policy analysis project, and elective courses chosen from those available on campus.

The program emphasizes practical and applied dimensions of policy-making and implementation, encouraging students to develop skills in: defining policy issues to make them more intelligible to officials in the public or private sector, providing a broader perspective for assessing policy alternatives, examining techniques for developing policy options and evaluating their social consequences, developing strategies for the successful implementation of public policies once they have been adopted.  gspp.berkeley.edu/

University of Maryland School of Public Policy

The Maryland School of Public Policy is one of the nation’s top 20 graduate programs devoted to the study of public policy, management and international affairs. The School’s location enhances the rigorous academic program. Proximity to the federal government, the international diplomatic community, state and local governments and to a host of non-governmental and multinational organizations maximizes interaction with and exposure to the real-life world of policymaking. MSPA offers a professional education that is multi-disciplinary (finance, statistics, economics, politics, management/leadership, and ethics) and that serves policy interests that cut across all sectors of the economy and levels of government. Students take core courses in each of the disciplines and select one of four policy programs– social policy, international security and economic policy, environmental policy, or management, finance and leadership. They may also choose a specialization (e.g. international development, ecological economics, nonprofit management and leadership, education policy etc.)to further guide their course selection and/or support their career goals.  www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/graduate

University of Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs

Want to change the world (or your corner of it)? Come to the Humphrey Institute to gain the skills and experiences you need to design and pursue a leadership role in your community. The curriculum incorporates an array of theoretical perspectives and methodologies: economics and quantitative analysis, leadership and management, political analysis, planning, and advocacy. Unlike most other public affairs schools, we offer both planning and policy degrees. And, within our programs, you have the option to focus on particular policy concentrations or specializations that interest you. www.hhh.umn.edu/index.php

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

The Environmental Science and Policy program is appropriate for students with interests in the scientific and/or public policy aspects of complex environmental problems. It provides a course of study that prepares its graduates for positions in scientific, technical and administrative organizations and agencies. The program’s core focuses on identification and analysis of environmental issues and on developing interdisciplinary approaches and solutions to problems. The program offers three areas of emphasis: Ecosystems Studies, Resource Management, and Environmental Policy and Administration. Each area of emphasis has a practical orientation that involves the student in real world problems and issues rather than presenting theoretical knowledge alone. Each area of emphasis allows for and encourages student flexibility in designing a particular program of study around a core of required courses. A personal program of study may also be developed.  www.uwgb.edu/gradstu

top of page