Environmental Science and Policy, MS

Graduate Program

The Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) program at Clark University prepares students for evolving and critical careers at the intersection of environmental science and policy. ES&P continues a long tradition of innovation and creative contributions to environmental challenges – the current program has evolved from one of the first environmental programs in the country to explore relationships between environmental science, technology, and society.

Environmental challenges are complex. ES&P teaches students to use knowledge and methods from both the natural and social sciences, to integrate quantitative and qualitative analytical tools, and to understand the connections among environment, technology, society, and development.

With this program’s course of study, the ES&P student is equipped with skills and perspectives to work with a wide array of stakeholders – communities, industries, governmental agencies, NGOs, researchers, and donors – in ways that are sensitive to cultural, institutional, socio-political, and economic needs.

ES&P students have opportunities to participate in high quality, meaningful research collaborations. They have access to faculty that have experience working with an ethnically and socially diverse student population. ES&P graduates are able to recognize, frame, characterize, and creatively address the many environmental problems facing the world today.

Visit the IDCE Web site at www.clarku.edu/departments/idce/academicsGradESP.cfm to learn more details about the program.

ES&P Course of Study

Completing the ES&P Master’s degree requires completing 12 course units including five required core courses, two skills courses, and five elective courses. The core courses provide ES&P graduate students with a common academic foundation.  The core curriculum includes a science foundation course, a science-policy foundation course focusing on pollution, a science-policy foundation course focusing on climate change and energy, a decision-making foundation course, and a course unit devoted to the final Masters project.  The two skills courses and the five elective courses allow students flexibility to take courses that will best help them meet their professional and academic objectives. We encourage students to take advantage of the diversity of courses offered throughout IDCE in other departments at Clark University, (particularly geography, economics and biology) and in the Graduate School of Management.

ES&P Skills Courses (a sampling, 2 required)

Note: This list is a sampling of skills courses, but students may request approval from their faculty advisor for other courses to be considered “skills” courses.

• IDCE 30218 - Community Development Decision Making & Negotiations
• IDCE 30225 - Grant Writing for Community Developers
• IDCE 310 - Intro to Geographic Information Systems
• IDCE 332 - Sustainable Development Assessment and Planning
• IDCE 334 - Planning and Zoning for Community Developers
• IDCE 366 - Principles of Negotiation and Mediation: An Overview of Conflict Resolution Approaches
• IDCE 388 - Advanced Vector GIS

ES&P Elective Courses (a sampling, 5 required)

Elective courses provide students the flexibility of designing much of their coursework to suit their own needs and to provide depth in a chosen area of focus. Students may take courses offered by the other three graduate programs in IDCE (International Development and Social Change, Community Development and Planning, and/or Geographic Information Science for Development and Environment) or in other departments, as approved by their Environmental Science & Policy faculty advisor.

Please view Clark’s official Academic Catalog (www.clarku.edu/academiccatalog) for a complete listing of course offerings. Remember that each IDCE program offers flexibility so students can take classes across programs and within other departments at Clark University, including the Graduate School of Geography and the Graduate School of Management.

• IDCE 30240 - Community Development Planning Studio
• IDCE 30245 - Natural Resource Management
• IDCE 30277 - Sustainable Consumption and Production
• IDCE 30287 - Fundamentals of Environmental Science
• IDCE 355 - Global Health: Epidemiologic Perspectives

Local Partnerships: Putting Theory into Action

The collaborative research projects of IDCE graduate students and faculty reflect their interdisciplinary approach to issues of environment and development. Many projects build upon partnerships between IDCE and community or governmental organizations around the United States and the globe, including in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Somalia, Ghana, India and Senegal.

Locally, environmental and community groups often invite IDCE to undertake key community building projects, as well as data gathering and analysis. This allows IDCE faculty and students to put theory into practice right in the neighborhood. By helping to facilitate participatory sessions and building collaborations, students see Worcester neighbors taking action, setting priorities, and maximizing into their human capital and governmental resources. Students hone their analytical skills through GIS mapping of land parcels for development or preservation and through monitoring water quality.