Minor in Environmental Science and Policy

This minor is for engineering majors only and is designed to give them greater exposure to natural and social sciences, thereby deepening their understanding of the causes of and solutions to problems related to environmental sustainability. The minor focuses on the integration of knowledge and approaches from different fields for the preservation and improvement of the environment.

The faculty advisor for this minor is Dr. John Durant (john.durant@tufts.edu).

Program Policies and Requirements 

To complete the minor, engineering students must complete THREE required core courses and THREE electives, for a total of six courses.​​​​ Other courses may be accepted by sending an email petition to Professor Durant.

A) Three CORE COURSES

One Environmental Economics course:

  • EC 8 Principles of Economics with Environmental Application
  • EC 30 Environmental Economics

One Natural Sciences course:

  • BIO 7 Global Change Biology    
  • EOS 2 Environmental Geology     
  • CHEM 8 Environmental Chemistry     
  • CEE 34 Environmental Chemistry

One Environmental Policy course:

  • ENV 135 Environmental Policy: U.S. Challenges and Solutions
  • ENV 135 Environmental Policy: Linking U.S. and Global Politics

B) Three ELECTIVES

One Research/Methods course:

  • CEE 187 Geographical Information Systems
  • CEE 189 Remote Sensing
  • ENV 051 Experiments in Ecology
  • ENV 107/GIS 101 Introduction to Geographical Information Systems
  • ENV 120 Intro to Environmental Fieldwork: From Class to Community
  • ENV 170 Environmental Data Analysis and Visualization

One Environmental Seminar course:

  • BIO 179 Seminar in Marine Biology     
  • BIO 180 Seminar in Conservation Biology     
  • BIO 181 Tropical Ecology and Conservation     
  • BIO 185 Food for All: Ecology, Biotechnology, and Sustainability        
  • EC 130 Topics in Environmental Economics (as appropriate)    
  • ENV 152 Seminar in Environmental Negotiations     
  • UEP 200 Land Use Planning     
  • UEP 201 Land Use Planning II     
  • UEP 207 Environmental Law     
  • UEP 221 Climate Change Policy and Planning     
  • UEP 265 Corporate Management of Environmental Issues     
  • UEP 278 Environmental Justice, Security, and Sustainability     
  • UEP 279 Water Resources Policy & Planning and Watershed Management     
  • UEP 286/ENV 286 Environmental Ethics (no longer offered)

One Social Sciences, Arts, or Humanities course:

Culture, Art, & Humanities
  • ANTH 024 Anthropology of the Environment
  • ANTH 030 Food, Nutrition, and Culture     
  • ENV 127 The Art of Making an Impact in Environmental Science (no longer offered)
  • SOC 114 Environmental Sociology
  • TPS 58 Public Speaking     
  • ENG 160 Environmental Justice and US Literature     
  • ENV 150 Environment, Communication and Culture     
  • VISC 129 Greening of Art: Ecology, Sustainability, and Sculpture Since 1970     
  • PHIL 91 Climate Change Ethics
Policy & Economics
  • ANTH 157 Cities and Food
  • EC30/ENV30 Environmental Economics (unless completed as part of the core)
  • EC 35 Economic Development     
  • EC 130 Topics in Environmental Economics (as appropriate)     
  • EC 132 Energy Markets     
  • EC 192 Resource and Environmental Economics and Policy     
  • CEE 52 Public Health Engineering   
  • PS 138-10 Energy and Climate Politics: The Impending Crisis (Fall)    
  • ENV 152 Seminar in Environmental Negotiations     
  • UEP 105 Urban Planning and Design    
  • UEP 194-04 Green Urban Design     
  • UEP 200 Land Use Planning     
  • UEP 206 Plan for Low Impact Development 
  • UEP 207 Environmental Law     
  • UEP 275 Policy Implementation and Innovation