“Our work as conservationists, as researchers, as policy influencers doesn't mean anything unless we can translate our work for a common lay audience,” says Lauren McGrath, freshwater ecologist and instructor of the Master of Environmental Studies (MES) program course Creating Gateways to the Land with Smarter Conservation.
“Climate change is solvable,” says Samanvitha Danda (Master of Environmental Studies ’20). “Some people think it’s a lost cause and don’t want to do anything about it, hence we’re not making a lot of progress. But the minute people understand that every action counts, and there is so much we can do to solve this problem, we get more buy-in from different stakeholders and we can make a change.”
“The world of sustainability is so vast. If you really want to have influence, it’s so important that you understand all of its interconnections,” says Dr. Swati Hegde, a sustainability research specialist and instructor in Penn’s Master of Environmental Studies (MES) degree. At Penn, Dr.
Veterinarians are positioned to influence policies and practices that have direct impact on the environment. Trained to recognize the interdependency of animals, humans and environmental health—known as One Health—they are acutely aware of the effect environments have on animal health, as well as the effect animals, particularly livestock, have on the environment.
This dual degree program combines a practical approach to the study of public management with a better understanding of environmental problems and potential solutions. Courses are designed to deliver specialized knowledge, practical experience, and valuable connections. The program develops core concepts and analytical tools, which provide students with the necessary skills needed for effective public administration in the face of ever-changing environmental conditions.
Students who are interested in obtaining planning skills and knowledge combined with a solid foundation in environmental science and policy should consider a dual degree with the Master of City and Regional Planning (MCP) and the Master of Environmental Studies (MES), which offers a focus in urban and regional planning with an eye toward environmental impact, resilience, and climate adaptation. This dual degree program exposes students to air, water, and soil concerns as well as environmental sustainability, law, and policy while giving them a strong foundation in urban planning.
A few years before retiring from the role of global sustainability director at FMC, an agricultural sciences company based in Philadelphia, Linda Froelich was invited to co-teach a course on corporate sustainability in Penn’s Master of Environmental Studies (MES) program. “I had been thinking about teaching when I retired,” she says, “so it was a good opportunity to see if it was something that I liked and if I was any good at it.”
“Wetlands are often referred to as the kidneys of the landscape,” explains Robert George (Master of Environmental Studies '13). “The ecological services they provide are too numerous to list.
David Steven Jacoby teaches graduate Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, and Global Supply Chain Decarbonization at the University of Pennsylvania and New York University. He is a senior fellow at Boston University’s Institute for Global Sustainability and a former adjunct professor at Boston University’s Questrom Graduate School of Business, and a master class instructor for REVchain's Supply Chain Decarbonization program.
“I attribute my interest in the environment to growing up on an island and being mindful of the resource constraints of island living,” says Reshmi Nair (Master of Environmental Studies ’08). She’s originally from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. “The water, the land, everything is limited there,” she says. Her godfather ran a non-government organization (NGO) there that advocated for environmental protection and the rights of marginalized indigenous people, and, as a kid, Reshmi would work with him during the summers.
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