Environmental Science and Public Policy

Faculty of the Committee on Degrees in Environmental Science and Public Policy

James J. McCarthy, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Chair, Head Tutor)
William C. Clark, Sidney Harman Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development (Kennedy School)
Göran Ekström, Professor of Geology and Geophysics
Jerry R. Green, John Leverett Professor in the University and the David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy
John P. Holdren, Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy (Kennnedy School)
Sheila S. Jasanoff, Professor of Science and Public Policy (Kennedy School, Public Health)
Michael B. McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies
Paul Pierson, Professor of Government (on leave fall term)
Daniel P. Schrag, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences
Robert N. Stavins, Professor of Public Policy (Kennedy School)

Other Faculty Offering Instruction in Environmental Science and Public Policy

Stephen T. Curwood, Visiting Lecturer on Environmental Science and Public Policy
Henry Ehrenreich, Clowes Professor of Science
Paul R. Epstein, Instructor in Medicine (Medical School)
Timothy E. Ford, Assistant Professor of Environmental Microbiology (Public Health)
Richard T. T. Forman, Professor of Advanced Environmental Studies in the Field of Landscape Ecology (Design School)
Matthew Parsons Hare, Lecturer on Environmental Science and Public Policy
James S. Hoyte, Lecturer on Environmental Science and Public Policy

The concentration in Environmental Science and Public Policy is administered by the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. It is overseen by a Standing Committee functioning as a Board of Tutors including representatives from other departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and from other schools as appropriate to ensure the requisite breadth of the program.

The concentration is designed to provide a multidisciplinary introduction to current problems of the environment. It is founded on the premise that the ability to form rational judgments concerning many of the complex challenges confronting society today involving the environment requires both an understanding of the underlying scientific and technical issues and an appreciation for the relevant economic, political, legal, historical, and ethical dimensions. It offers students an opportunity to specialize in a specific area of either natural or social science relating to the environment. All students have to satisfy a core of requirements in biology, chemistry, earth and planetary sciences, economics, government, and mathematics.

Primarily for Undergraduates

Environmental Science and Public Policy 78. Environmental Politics
Catalog Number: 3613
Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School, Public Health)
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
An introduction to the history, organization, goals and ideals of environmental protection in America. Course examines the political implications of shifts in emphasis from nature protection to pollution control to sustainability over the 20th century. Of central interest is the relationship between scientific knowledge, uncertainty, and legal or political action. Theoretical approaches from law, political science, and science studies are combined with investigations of major episodes and controversies in environmental policymaking.

Environmental Science and Public Policy 90. Junior Seminars

Enrollment in these seminars is limited, with preference given to environmental science and public policy concentrators in their junior year. One junior seminar fulfills the junior seminar requirement for Environmental Science and Public Policy concentrators.
*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90a. Public Communication and the Science and Politics of Global Climate Change
Catalog Number: 2189
Michael B. McElroy and Stephen T. Curwood
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1:30–4.
The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 set binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions, though many nations, including the United States, have yet to ratify this accord. Meanwhile the scientific evidence of human-induced climate change continues to emerge amid some controversy, with indications that global warming and other potentially catastrophic climate changes may already be underway. What is this scientific evidence, and how is it being communicated to the public and policy makers? How should the United States respond to international efforts to mitigate climate change? Led by a scientist and a journalist, the seminar will explore scientific, diplomatic and public communication methods driving the global climate change debate.

[*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90b. Preparing for Natural Disasters]
Catalog Number: 3253
Göran Ekström
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Examines the interplay between science, the individual, and society in responding to the threats and effects of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other disasters. Aspects of risk assessment and risk perception, in particular in relation to infrequent and devastating events. The reliance on the well-informed individual to exhibit risk-averse behavior is compared with the role of government laws and regulations. Investigation of the question of who eventually pays for disaster relief and reconstruction; discussion of insurance and alternative solutions.
Note: Expected to be given in 2000–01.

*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90c. Ecology and Land Use Planning
Catalog Number: 3792
Richard T. T. Forman (Design School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–5, with intensive field study, including a required one week field study.
Investigation of how local and regional human activities such as housing, agriculture, water supply, and natural resource use can be arranged on the landscape so that environmental processes are not disrupted and ecosystems are maintained for very long times. The focus is on the active use of applying spatial and ecological principles to land-use planning with the intention of regional biodiversity conservation, maintenance of water quality, and dealing with other environmental issues.

*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90d. Status of Environmental Justice as a Public Policy Issue
Catalog Number: 5824
James S. Hoyte
Half course (spring term). W., 2:30–4:30.
Examines the influences of race, socioeconomic status, and interest group politics in the formulation and implementation of U.S. federal and state environmental policy. Topics include the civil rights struggle and the environmental justice movement, role of race in environmental policymaking, residential and occupational exposure patterns of environmental pollution, racial diversity in the environmental movement, socioeconomic factors shaping the research agenda for environmental affairs, facilities siting and community impacts, and lead contamination as an environmental justice issue.
Note: Offered jointly with the Kennedy School of Government as ENR-205.

*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90ehf. Conservation Biology
Catalog Number: 6879
Matthew Parsons Hare
Half course (throughout the year). Tu., 6:30–8:30 p.m.
Conservation biology strives to describe, understand and preserve biodiversity by applying ecological and evolutionary theory within the contexts of resource management, economics, sociology and political science. We will explore the moral and scientific motivations for preserving biodiversity and practice decision making under conflicting interests. Case studies will focus our examination of major contemporary issues in conservation biology such as endangered species protection and reintroduction, habitat fragmentation, over-harvesting of biological resources, exotic species invasions and sustainable development. Several field trips in New England will involve the class in conservation research. A strong emphasis will be put on individual research projects.
Note: Must be taken concurrently with Biology 95hfg, as a combined full-year course.
Prerequisite: Biological Sciences 2, or Biology 19, or permission of instructor.

*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90f. Global Change and Human Health
Catalog Number: 4434
Paul R. Epstein (Medical School) and James J. McCarthy
Half course (spring term). W., 2:30–5.
Global consequences of increasing human population and our consumption of natural resources include extensive changes in many natural ecosystems and in the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. In the last decade, geographic ranges of certain well known infectious diseases have expanded and new diseases have become threats to human health. This seminar will explore hypothesized linkages between changes in ecosystems, climate, and the epidemiology of certain infectious diseases.

*Environmental Science and Public Policy 90h. Alternative Energy Potential
Catalog Number: 2284
Henry Ehrenreich
Half course (fall term). W., 1–4.
Examines alternative energy options such as photovoltaic and wind within the environmental context of conventional fossil and nuclear based sources. Begins with an elementary exposition of needed energy and thermodynamic concepts, which assumes no previous exposure to physics, and a brief historical survey of energy use in relation to economic and social needs. Emphasizes the potential and problems of alternative energy sources through lectures, readings, class presentations and discussions.

*Environmental Science and Public Policy 91r. Supervised Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 1705
James J. McCarthy and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Supervised reading and research on topics not covered by regular courses of instruction. Students must complete a registration form, including permission from their faculty sponsor, with the concentration office before course enrollment. A final paper describing the research/reading completed during the term is due in duplicate to the Head Tutor on the first day of reading period.
Note: Intended for junior and senior concentrators in Environmental Science and Public Policy; open to sophomore concentrators only under exceptional circumstances. Permission of the Head Tutor is required for enrollment. May be counted for concentration only with the special permission of the Head Tutor.

*Environmental Science and Public Policy 99r. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 5666
James J. McCarthy and members of the Committee
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Senior honors candidates must take at least one term of this course (fall or spring) while writing a thesis. If taken for two terms, only one term can be counted toward meeting concentration requirements. Signature of the Head Tutor required for enrollment.

For Undergraduates and Graduates

Environmental Science and Public Policy 101. Topics in Environmental Ethics
Catalog Number: 1989
Timothy E. Ford (Public Health)
Half course (spring term). M., W., 4–5:30. EXAM GROUP: 9
Our environmental circumstances pose problems of value and choice for each of us and challenge us to reconsider the notion of community in an ever-changing ecosystem. This course invites students to reflect upon these problems by confronting the ethical dimensions of historical and contemporary environmental issues. Drawing upon both Western and non-Western traditions in moral reasoning, it elaborates different approaches to environmental ethics and examines the underlying assumptions of the scientific managerial, economic, aesthetic, religious, judicial, and public policy discourse on the environment.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2717.