Sustainability Management
introduces students to the practical tools and core concepts needed to lead organizations in ways that support environmental sustainability and responsible resource use. Designed for those preparing to work in public, nonprofit, and mission-driven private organizations, the course explores how effective management practices intersect with urgent sustainability challenges.
Each week, students engage with real-world case studies and supporting readings that address issues in organizational strategy, environmental compliance, resource management, sustainability metrics, and equity. The course emphasizes decision-making grounded in practical experience, with lessons drawn from government, nonprofit, and private sector contexts. Topics include energy and water systems, sustainable supply chains, food systems, and the role of public policy in promoting sustainable development.
Through team briefings and individual written assignments, students will analyze sustainability challenges from a managerial perspective and develop actionable strategies for achieving environmental and organizational goals.
This course is about social science research methods, with a heavy focus on quantitative techniques. Students in this course will learn to formulate research and policy questions amenable to empirical inquiry and to identify and apply appropriate methods of measurement and analysis to answer these questions.
This course begins with a discussion on the formulation of research questions derived from policy and management objectives, followed by the collection and organization of data, and finally the presentation and analysis of facts.
This course emphasizes the conceptual understanding of statistics that can be readily applied in the practice of public management and policy. In terms of statistical methods, the course covers descriptive statistics for univariate and bivariate analysis, including concepts and measures of central tendency, dispersion, and contingency tables. It also covers inferential statistical techniques, such as the chi-square, difference in means, and simple and multiple regression analysis.
To complement the lecture, students are introduced to the use of STATA, a computer- based data analysis tool. Later in the semester, the class is divided into groups to work on problems relating to environmental policy and research. The groups formulate research questions and model, collect, code, clean, and analyze data. Towards the end of the class, students are required to present their finding, and produce an analytical report.
The objective of Microeconomics and Policy Analysis I is to ensure that students can use an economic framework to analyze policy choices, including those related to the environment. Students will be expected to understand, apply, and critique microeconomic models that inform economic and environmental policy. By the end of the semester, students will be expected to use economic concepts fluently to advocate various public policy positions.
We will begin with the big picture: how did economics evolve, what a capitalist economy is, and how do we think about it? We will then focus on tools for understanding core institutions such as markets, individual workers and consumers, and firms. We describe simple supply-demand relationships and apply these to economic problems. We introduce the concepts of opportunity cost and choice, which are fundamental to an economic framework for public policy. We then examine basic tools used by economists. We examine in detail the underlying theory of consumers and producers necessary to derive supply and demand relationships. This detailed analysis facilitates an intelligent application and critique of these basic economic tools.
We will incorporate environmental examples throughout the class, but this is not a class on environmental economics. It will introduce you to microeconomics more generally, and give you a view of the economy interacting with lots of other political, social, and environmental factors.
This workshop is the second course in a three-semester sequence that serves as the professional development core of the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy. Building on the foundation established during the summer semester, students continue to refine their management and analytical skills through applied work on simulated public sector sustainability projects.
Students work in teams to design and implement a one-year operational plan for an environmental sustainability program. Each project addresses real-world management and implementation challenges, including budgeting, staffing, political analysis, performance planning, and scheduling. Students are expected to draw on the scientific, economic, and policy tools they have acquired to date, applying them in an integrated and practical context.
The course emphasizes project management, teamwork, and professional communication. Students assume defined leadership roles, develop briefings, and produce a final report that outlines a feasible policy direction and operational strategy. Through simulated client interactions and instructor-led seminars, students gain firsthand experience with the complexities of managing environmental programs in the public and nonprofit sectors.
This workshop is the second course in a three-semester sequence that serves as the professional development core of the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy. Building on the foundation established during the summer semester, students continue to refine their management and analytical skills through applied work on simulated public sector sustainability projects.
Students work in teams to design and implement a one-year operational plan for an environmental sustainability program. Each project addresses real-world management and implementation challenges, including budgeting, staffing, political analysis, performance planning, and scheduling. Students are expected to draw on the scientific, economic, and policy tools they have acquired to date, applying them in an integrated and practical context.
The course emphasizes project management, teamwork, and professional communication. Students assume defined leadership roles, develop briefings, and produce a final report that outlines a feasible policy direction and operational strategy. Through simulated client interactions and instructor-led seminars, students gain firsthand experience with the complexities of managing environmental programs in the public and nonprofit sectors.