For those in California looking for Environmental Policy …
UC Berkeley has one of the top natural resources schools in the world — Rausser College of Natural Resources — with two policy-focused undergraduate majors:
- Environmental Economics and Policy: “Students who graduate from the major should be prepared to undertake a career in public or private agencies engaged in the planning or management of natural resources, or to enter a graduate school for further study in such fields as agricultural and resource economics, economics, law, public policy, or resources administration.”
- Society and Environment: “Society and Environment introduces students to the main approaches and theory for environmental social sciences, including how social science tools can be applied to environmental problems, and how social science theories contribute to understanding environmental problems. Students are exposed to three areas of concentration, and choose to focus on one: (1) U.S. Environmental Policy and Management, (2) Global Environmental Politics, or (3) Justice and Sustainability.”
Although UCLA has an Institute of the Environment, their Environmental Analysis and Policy major is a part of their Luskin School of Public Affairs.
- “The EAP courses will provide students with a conceptual understanding of the nature, magnitude and causes of environmental processes and problems; the environmental impacts of housing, employment and transportation; environmental and sustainability policy and planning approaches; strategies to redress the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and benefits generated by government programs; and a set of professional skills useful for effective practice.”
UC Davis was the UC’s agricultural school, so has a deep and broad set of options in their College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, with the most relevant major being Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning.
- “Do you want to explore the relationships among the environment, law, policy, people and community planning? Students in the environmental policy analysis and planning (EPAP) major apply coursework in natural sciences to analyze environmental problems and formulate policy options and solutions. Issues of resource quality, pollution, energy use and recreational policy are all addressed by EPAP majors. Students gain skills in the growing areas of environmental impact assessment and geographic information systems.”
UCSD has an Environmental Systems/Environmental Policy Major (scroll down until you find it), but their site doesn’t have a readily copy-and-pastable description.
UCSB claims to have had the first environmental studies undergrad programs in the U.S. (though I’m not sure how that squares with the Berkeley and Davis programs), with two majors that look related — Environmental Studies (BA) and Hydrological Sciences and Policy (BS). It’s hard to tell from the site what the particular areas of focus entail, but digging into the major requirements will yield more insights.
UC Irvine has an Environmental Science and Policy major.
- “The Environmental Science and Policy B.A. prepares students interested in environmental problem solving by linking an understanding of natural science with socioeconomic factors and public policy. The curriculum combines a quantitative understanding of environmental science, chemistry, and biology with law, policy, and economics to provide a foundation for careers in environmental policy, resource management, education, environmental law, urban and environmental design, and related fields.”
UC Santa Cruz has a page relating to their “advising cluster” of Environmental Policy, Science, and Sustainability, but it looks like a student would need to create a “combined major” of Environmental Studies and Economics, or similar.
I should also note that most of the above schools (as well as CSUs/Cal Polys) have other environmental programs, focused more on the sciences, or on range management, etc. I tried to keep the above notes focused on policy-related programs. (I also probably missed a few pertinent ones.) And there are also several schools that offer minors, like Cal Poly Humboldt’s Environmental Policy Minor.