We’ve asked several of our current Fellows to offer perspectives on each of CIPA’s eight concentration offerings. Today, first-year Fellow Will Nielsen discusses the Environmental Policy concentration.
Remember that first big outdoor adventure as a young kid?
Me neither, but I tell myself I must have liked it. Some of my fondest memories as a kid are from my time spent outdoors, whether that was camping in the backyard or exploring the nearby woods (usually looking for places to build a fort). Today I love to be outdoors running, biking, hiking, and skiing wherever I can. The natural environment means a lot to me; it has for a long time.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve also come to understand that not only do I enjoy being outdoors, but I and every other living thing on earth depend on the environment for our very existence. On top of that, the global economy’s foundation is built on natural resources. Everything surrounding us is a resource harvested, mined, processed, burned, and manufactured into what we are sitting on, reading on, typing on, and texting on. I quickly realized that I needed to be involved in the conservation and improvement of the natural environment if anything resembling our current standard of living was going to be maintained and improved upon.
After focusing my undergraduate degree in natural resource economics, I knew the importance of efficiency in figuring out a way to conserve the earth’s resources. However, I didn’t feel the path of economist would allow me to work in the environment (no pun intended) I was most interested in. This led me to pursue a graduate degree in environmental policy. I felt environmental policy would put me in a position to help the human global economy succeed while also allowing the natural environment to benefit and improve. Who could say no to a win-win scenario like that?
The environmental policy program at CIPA—the Environmental Finance and Impact Investment (EFII) program—offered exactly what I was looking for. EFII acts as a program within a program (sounds like Inception, right?) meant to develop the interaction between finance and sustainability. While completing EFII, you can concentrate in either environmental policy or economics and financial policy. EFII essentially gives even more focus to your concentration and includes coursework in finance and analytics, economics, and markets/regulations.
One aspect I especially like about CIPA’s environmental policy concentration, as well as EFII, is the variety of positions I will be trained for. I could end up in the private sector working for a company to achieve sustainability goals, in the non-profit sector working for a land trust conserving scenic lands, or in the public sector crafting specific policy and regulations for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
I have been able to take a great variety of courses at Cornell during my first year here. A few I’ve taken that relate to environmental policy include:
- CRP 6012: Legal Aspects of Public Agency Decision-Making – A law class that, although not focusing directly on environmental topics, covers agency decision making processes and offers insight into such agencies as the EPA, Department of Energy (DOE), and Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).
- ILRIC 6013: Labor and Social Movement Approaches to Climate and Sustainable Development – Discusses all the big environmental issues and looks at how people are involved in shaping these issues with particular emphasis on trade unions.
- NBA 6380: Finance and Sustainable Global Enterprise Colloquium – A required 1 credit course for EFII students, but useful for anyone with an interest in sustainable business. Discussion topics include solar energy, land conservation, impact investing networks, and more.
Whatever the courses you take or the profession you are most interested in, if the environment is a major component of either of these, the environmental policy concentration may be the place for you. This concentration can give you a great sense of accomplishment and peace of mind from knowing you are helping improve environmental quality (and our quality of life!). It’s definitely an exciting time to get involved in environmental policy – there’s a lot of work to be done!