Minor in Environmental Economics & Policy (Non-Teaching)

The Environmental Economics and Policy minor teaches students to analyze environmental issues and policies using economic principles. The program includes a rigorous grounding in economics and statistics. The centerpiece of the program is a set of three upper-division courses in Natural Resource, Environmental, and Energy Economics, of which students will choose two. These courses focus heavily on policy analysis. To give students a fundamental grounding in the science of environmental problems, the program includes directed electives in environmental science. And to provide a broader perspective on policy analysis, it includes directed electives in environmental policy, law, natural science, and social science.

Program Learning Outcomes

  • Explain how markets operate and the effects of government policies on those markets.
  • Analyze changes in market conditions in a broad array of settings and determine the impact on the various groups most affected by the change.
  • Analyze and evaluate environmental policies, assessing their effectiveness, efficiency, and equity implications.
  • Identify appropriate policy instruments and design strategies to tackle emerging environmental challenges while balancing economic, social, and ecological considerations.
  • Integrate economic analysis with concepts from environmental sciences and other fields to assess environmental challenges and propose sustainable solutions.
  • Recognize empirical research methods used in environmental economics and policy evaluation, comprehend potential approaches to answer a novel empirical question, and apply basic statistical techniques to analyze economic or environmental data.
  • Interpret and present ideas effectively in oral and written forms to those in the environmental and related fields.
Choose one Introductory Economics course:3
Economic Way of Thinking
Econ & the Environment
ECNS 204ISMicroeconomics3
Choose two of the following:6
Econ of Natural Resources
Economics of the Environment
Energy Economics
STAT 216QIntroduction to Statistics3
Choose one Environmental Science and GIS Elective:3
Intro to GIS Science & Cartog
Adv GIS and Spatial Analysis
Remote Sensing
Alternative Power & Energy Technology
General Ecology
Energy and Sustainability
Role of Plants in the Environment
Soils
Water Resources
Environmental Biogeochemistry
Special Topics
Environmental Risk Assessment
Natural Resource Ecology
Choose one Environmental Policy/Social Science/Law Elective:3
Introduction to Public Administration
Natural Resource Policy
Environmental Sociology
Geography of Energy Resources
Environment and Society
Geographical Planning
Water and Society
Ag in a Global Context
Economic Development
Public Finance
Agricultural Law
Principles of Business Law
Environmental Laws and Regulations
Natural Resource Law
Total Credits21