University of Maryland College Park Environmental Policy
Environmental Policy
Students participating in the environmental policy specialization of the MPP and MPM-Policy Track programs investigate the science, philosophical, legal, economic, and political dimensions of environmental issues. The program's interdisciplinary focus prepares students to work effectively with people from diverse academic, cultural, and occupational backgrounds to address the world's complex environmental challenges. Students first develop the core skills necessary for creating and implementing public policies. Then, building on these fundamentals, they focus on ecological economics, growth management, international development or other areas related to environment investment or policymaking.
Environmental Policy Alumnus Jobs
Environmental Protection Specialist; Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Planner, EIA Associates
Project Manager, Environmental Council of the States
Program Analyst, U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
International Trade Specialist, U.S. International Trade Administration
Director, Environmental Finance Center
Volunteer, Peace Corps
Management Analyst, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
Lobbyist, Environmental Defense Fund
Transportation Planner, Parsons Brinckerhoff
International Program Manager, Center for Clean Air Policy
Manager, China Operations, ENSR Environmental International
Policy Advisor, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
Executive Director, Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship
Deputy Director, Office of Smart Growth, Maryland Department of Planning
Brazil Development Manager, Conservation International
Environmental Policy Specialization Curriculum
In addition to meeting the overall requirementsof their degree program, students electing to specialize in environmental policy take the following courses:
Public Policy and the Environment (PUAF 740) focuses on how national environmental policy is formed and implemented, with an emphasis on the interplay of environmental science, politics and economics. In examining selected environmental policy issues, the course studies the roles of the Congress, the courts, agency administrators, and public interest groups.
Global Environmental Problems (PUAF 741) assesses human influences on the global environment. Topics include human population growth, climate change, ozone depletion, acid rain, and biological diversity. Emphasizes how scientists approach environmental problems, and how policy makers use scientific analyses.
Human Health and Environmental Policy (PUAF 745) reviews human and other species' physiological systems and their toxicological functions; considers bodily defenses and classic, emerging, and ambiguous risks; all in ecological context. Applies to scientific controversy methods of policy formation, such as risk, social-cost, outcomes, and decision analysis, all in political-economic context.
At least one environmental policy elective. Popular environmental electives include:
Growth Management (PUAF 698A)
Dynamic Modeling (PUAF 746)
Ecological Economics (PUAF 743)
Environmental Ethics (PUAF 742)
Environment & Development (PUAF 744)
Energy Policy (PUAF 699Z)
Chesapeake Bay (PUAF 698B)
International Environmental Agreements (PUAF 698L)
Water Resources (PUAF 698X)
Wildlife Conservation (PUAF 698W)
Globalization, Trade & Environment (PUAF 699Y)
MPP Students Only: Either Environmental Policy Workshop (PUAF 660) or Environmental Policy Project Course (PUAF 790). In either course, students analyze and recommend responses to a current environmental policy issue, emphasizing problem definition, organization of information, and presentation of results. In the Policy Workshop, students work as a team with the instructor as the leader, while in the Policy Project students work independently on a topic of their choosing.
Typical MPP Environmental Policy Academic Plan
Fall Semester I
Spring Semester I
Core: PUAF 610 "Quantitative Aspects of Public Policy" OR PUAF 611 "Quantitative Analysis of Policy Issues"
Core: PUAF 641 "Macroeconomics and Policy Analysis" OR PUAF 670 "Finance"
Core: PUAF 620 "Political Analysis"
Core: PUAF 711 "Public Management & Leadership"
Core: PUAF 640 "Microeconomics and Policy Analysis" OR (with permission of PUAF 640 instructor) PUAF 698X "Microeconomic Applications of Public Policy"
ENV: PUAF 740 "Public Policy & Environment"
Core: PUAF 650 "Moral Dimensions of Public Policy" OR PUAF 698X "Proseminar in Politics, Philosophy and Public Policy"
ENV: PUAF 741 "Global Environmental Problems"
Fall Semester II
Spring Semester II
ENV: PUAF 745 "Human Health and Environmental Policy"
ENV: PUAF 660 "Policy Workshop" or PUAF 790 "Project Course"
ENV: Environmental Policy elective
Three general electives
Two general electives
Primary Environmental Policy Faculty
Name
Expertise
Daly, Herman
Professor
Ecological economics, sustainable development, environmental policy
Fetter, Steve
Dean and Professor
Nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, nuclear energy and radiation, climate change and energy supply
Hilde, Thomas
Visiting Assistant Professor
Ethics, social and political philosophy, environmental policy, international development and international affairs
Hultman, Nathan
Assistant Professor
Climate change, energy technologies, risk and uncertainty
Metzenbaum, Shelley
Senior Fellow & Director, Environmental Compliance Consortium
Environmental measurement and management, public management, intergovernmental relations
Nelson, Robert
Professor
Land and natural resource management (with a particular emphasis on management of federally owned resources), economic ethics
Ruth, Matthias
Professor & Director, Environmental Policy Program & Co-Director, Master of Engineering & Public Policy program
Industrial ecology, energy analysis, engineering-economics, dynamic modeling of natural resource use, industrial and infrastructure systems analysis, environmental policy
Sagoff, Mark
Senior Research Scholar
Environmental policy, environmental ethics
Sprinkle, Robert
Associate Professor
Health, health systems, and health-policy history in the United States and abroad.
Winegrad, Gerald
Adjunct Lecturer
Chesapeake bay, wildlife conservation
Centers Conducting Environmental Policy Research
Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER)
National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy (IPPP)
Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)
Environmental Policy Specialization Director
For more information on the environmental policy specialization, contact:
William Powers, Executive Dean
301-405-6336
wpowers@umd.edu