Sustainability and Environmental Policy
Smart and effective public policies are critical for responding to current and future environmental problems. CPPA thus plays an important role on the UMass Amherst campus as an interdisciplinary hub for examining the causes and consequences of global environmental change, and for advancing sustainable policy solutions at both the national and international levels. CPPA students have many opportunities for building expertise in environmental policy, including through the completion of internships at such organizations as Resources for the Future, the American Council on Renewable Energy, and the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection.
Courses
CPPA students achieve competence in the area of environmental policy by taking core courses that train them in policy development and administration. Graduate electives also are available throughout the UMass campus, exemplified by such offerings as:
- Social Conflict and Natural Resource Policy (Natural Resources Conservation)
- Landscape and Memory (History)
- Resource Policy and Planning (Regional Planning)
- International Environmental Politics (Political Science)
- Spirit of Place (Geography)
- Environment and Resource Economics (Resource Economics)
- People and the Environment (Landscape Architecture)
Research
As a land grant university and the flagship of the UMass system, UMass Amherst is especially committed to research leadership in the field of sustainability and environmental policy. The campus also was recently selected to host a new multimillion-dollar Energy Frontier Research Center in national recognition of its expertise in the areas of clean energy and climate-related science. Examples of CPPA faculty conducting research in environmental policy include:
- Michael Ash—Professor Ash focuses on a range of issues related to environmental policy and justice. He is co-director of the Corporate Toxics Information Project, which identifies the top U.S. air polluters among the world’s largest corporations.
- Sylvia Brandt—Professor Brandt has studied U.S. fisheries, modeling competing regulatory approaches. Her current research bridges environmental epidemiology and health economics to examine the social costs of asthma diagnoses attributable to traffic exposure.
- Krista Harper— Professor Harper’s work on environmental justice movements confronts notions of how societies can and do address global inequalities. Her recent book is Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activists and Post-Socialist Ecology in Hungary.
- John Hird—Professor Hird’s focus on environmental policy has involved understanding the relationship of environmental contamination to the socioeconomic characteristics of affected communities and the ways policymakers address environmental risks.
- Charles Schweik—Professor Schweik is an expert on the use of technology for analyzing the outcomes of natural resource policies and management. The City of Boston currently uses an online “Carbon Calculator” on which he collaborated. Schweik also has examined the effects of formal and informal rules on changing landscapes in the U.S. and Nepal.
- John Stranlund—Professor Stranlund has focused his research in two areas: the enforcement of environmental and natural resources policies and the local governance of common pool natural resources in the developing world.
Additional Opportunities in Environmental Policy at UMass Amherst
- The Change Climate Policy Series, sponsored by CPPA, brings in local and regional experts to talk about potential responses to global warming.
- Through his work with the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), Michael Ash brings new perspectives on the “green economy” to CPPA.
- Charles Schweik is collaborating with organizations across the nation on a Climate Change Commons that extends data and other resources to localities dealing with climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- The Environmental Institute (TEI) at UMass Amherst offers annual lecture series and conferences on issues related to sustainability and environmental policy.
