Environmental Policy Major at WashU
The Environmental Policy Major at WashU uniquely combines rigorous engagement in political science, public policy, and environmental science. Students in environmental policy work to address two sets of challenging and important questions. The first is environmental: What explains environmental problems such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss? The second is political: How can policymakers, stakeholders, special interests, and the public address these problems?
To answer these questions students must understand not only the natural science foundations of the environment and climate, but also, crucially, the political science exploring political institutions and political behavior, the philosophy underlying environmental concerns and moral values, and the techniques of public policy analysis.
The Environmental Policy Major benefits from a host of upper-level environmental courses across campus that count towards the major. This makes it extremely flexible for students with interdisciplinary interests. Moreover, the major formalizes WashU’s long-held encouragement of practical experiences. Students in environmental policy get credit towards the major for completing any combination of experiential learning courses, environmental internships, and directed research projects.
Today’s environmental policy majors are equipped with the scholarly knowledge, research skills, and hands-on experiences necessary to engage the most pressing problems of our time.
