Got a call from an Indiana University grad who urges me to check out the most recent environmental policy and management graduate school rankings from U.S. News and World Report.

You guessed it.  Indiana University is on top of the pile, followed by:

Syracuse
Duke
UC Berkeley
University of Washington
University of Michigan
Harvard
University of North Carolina
Columbia
Carnegie Mellon
University of Wisconsin

Looks like I've got a few more phone calls to make.  (Unless, of course, grads from these places want to weigh in directly about the '08 job market and save me the trouble)

Kevin

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Thanks for sharing the article from Sustainable Industries.  Anyone thinking about a "green" MBA would benefit from reading it.  It would interesting to hear from '08 MBA grads or Net Impact members about how their job searches are going.

Kevin

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When you checked the rankings, and this is my laziness, did you notice that it was Syracuse getting the environmental policy and management graduate school ranking, or was it SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, which is located right next to SU, shares the majority of their facilities, and some classes? Because we are a distinctly different breed, particularly as we do not receive any money from SU.

My understanding is that the high ranking for environmental policy and management graduate study went to the Maxwell School at Syracuse.

Kevin

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Thanks to those of you who are sending career questions and situations directly to me.  It's clearly past time for a "from the e-mail bag" column and I'll take that on next month. Please keep your career and job-hunting questions coming, or post them as an "add a comment" right here.  Either way, we're here to help.

Kevin

P.S. Visit the jobs board and get info about Grist U., our new green careers campus visit program.  Just click the widget.

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I have decided to pursue an MBA in sustainable business development - the kind of stuff touched on in "Cradle to Cradle," "Natural Capitalism," "Ecology of Commerce," and the like. I've begun researching programs, but wanted advice to narrow my choices down. From the list you provide in the article, which do you feel would best cater to this skill set?

Carnegie Mellon is a very interdisciplinary environment that plays on its strengths of design, engineering, and technology to propose solutions to some of the world's `green' problems.  We have The Institute for Green Science, where Terry Collins is working with molecular catalysts to rid water of hazardous pollutants.  We have the Intelligent Workplace where Volker Hartkopf is leading researchers on creating a `green' workplace that will generate more energy than it uses.  Within our Engineering and Public Policy Institute, we have the Green Design Institute, and the Climate Decision Making Center.

With all of this wonderful research and learning happening on campus, it inevitability spills over into Heinz School of Public Policy and Management.  It is at the Heinz School where the implications of various environmental policies are discussed.  It is in classes like Sustainable Community Development, where policy students learn alongside architecture students and thus begin to understand environmental problems from multiple perspectives.

Students from the Heinz School that have concentrated their studies on Environmental Policy are being snapped up by consulting firms, and local and federal government agencies (i.e. the EPA, the Dept of Energy, and the National Forest Service).  Nonprofits have not been on the radar as much (probably because of the great disparity in compensation), except in cases where the graduating students have been able to either create their own position (like Sustainability Coordinator), or actually start their own nonprofit organization.  Our students are not hired because they are environmental engineers, or developing the latest technologies to remediate environmental problems, they are being hired because they have a core quantitative skills set that allows them to analyze problems and make effective decisions as managers and leaders in a world that is becoming increasingly `green'.  

Kevin,

I am a professional graduate student at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University and I just wanted to make an additional note on your article and some of the comments.  I am sure you heard from some of the career councilors, at least Karen Kirchof, about joint degree options that some of the schools mentioned offer.  I am actually pursuing two master degrees, a Master of Environmental Management (MEM) in Ecosystem Science and Conservation, and a Master of Forestry (MF) in Forest Resource Management, and many other students are pursing joint degrees as well.  A joint MEM/MF is very popular for managers hoping to work in forested areas (my focus is on the ecology, management, and restoration of forests and forested wetlands).  Many students here at the Nicholas School are pursuing joint MEM/MBA, MEM/JD, and MEM/MPP (Master of Public Policy)degrees as well.  Having multiple degrees allow you to 1) be more marketable, and 2) take two fields of study and merge them together.  I might be biased since I am a joint degree student, but I really feel that if you have a specific field you are interested in, a joint degree is the best bang for your buck.  Some of the joint MEM/MF students here at Duke are interested in land conservation work, wildlife management, using woody biomass for fuel, and carbon markets, amongst other things.  The joint MEM/MBA is very popular as well and I know that employers (particularly those that are graduates from the schools mentioned in your article) have much respect and regard for those that are on this tract.  It also usually takes less time to complete two degrees concurrently then separately.  It would normally take 2 years to complete one master degree, but in my case it will take me 2.5 years to complete two...pretty sweet deal.

Connor Coleman

Thanks for sending this note along.  Nicholas school students aren't the only ones who commented on the value of dual degrees.  I heard from both students and faculty at many others about the advantage of merging environmental management and policy with:

law
engineering
business management
finance
a disciplinary science
information technology
public administration

Look before you leap, however.  If you choose a dual degree education, you'll want to think very carefully about the combination that works best for your particular career goals.

Many dual degree students note that the program requirements may increase the number of pre-requisites you need to take.  A dual degree can also increase your time in school, daily workload and expense.

If you're going to the trouble to improve your career competiveness, it's more important than ever to ask: competitive to do what?

None of which diminishes cpcoleman's comment.  It's definitely been my experience that the dual degree holders are seriously in demand.

Kevin      

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