Wanna go to grad school, but feel afraid you’ll get stuck in an ivory tower with no relation to the serious enviro concerns happening in the “real” world?
Fear not, for academia’s with thee. At least in California, lotsa academic programs are addressing the environment. Below’s a far-from-complete list.
Know of others? Lemme know, and I’ll add them on. Update: OK — I’m officially naming Larry of Ecopalooza as a co-writer and researcher for this post, cuz he just sent me a super long list of a buncha green programs at Cali colleges and universities I didn’t know about –
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly - SLO offers a bunch of sustainable design classes :)
California State University, Pomona. This campus’s Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies works “to advance the principles of environmentally sustainable living through education, research, demonstration and community outreach.” The center offers both a Master of Science and an undergrad minor program.
Cuesta College. The Architectural Technology Program offers a bunch of courses on green building.
De Anza College. The Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies “commits to environmental protection as a fundamental objective and integral part of educating our students and the public. Through an interdisciplinary approach we will partner with industry, government, utilities and other academic institutions.” It offers certificate and degree programs in environmental studies.
Humboldt State University. The Campus Center for Appropriate Technology is a live-in demonstration home and educational center for appropriate technology and resource conservation. This student-run, community-focused program looks at the intersection between technology and sustainability. The program’s working to “to dispel the myth that living lightly on the earth is difficult or burdensome.”
New College of California, North Bay Campus for the Study of Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Community. This college as a whole’s “committed to education in support of a just, sacred, and sustainable world”
You can get a BA with an emphasis in Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Community and a green MBA in Sustainable Enterprise.
Oakland Community College. Environmental Systems Technology Program’s alternate energies classes are all about getting energy from renewable sources: “Energy management, energy efficiency and energy conservation are all covered.” Students can enroll in programs on heating, cooling and refrigeration techniques, facilities management, and green building, renewable energies, and energy management.
Presidio School of Management. Nick of TriplePundit went to this San Francisco-based MBA program. Here, you can be part of a MBA program in Sustainable Management.
Regenerative Design Institute. This institute offers a Regenerative Design & Nature Awareness (RDNA) Training, a “year-long program is a hands-on skill based training devoted to helping students develop leadership skills necessary to further sustainable & regenerative practices in their personal and professional lives.”
San Francisco Institute of Architecture. This school for Architecture and Ecological Design is “developing curricula and textbooks in cooperation with other schools in an emerging Ecological Design Consortium and with the McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.”
Santa Rosa Junior College. Interested in sustainable agriculture? SRJC is the only community college in California that offers an A.S. degree and two certificates in Sustainable Agriculture.
Sonoma State University. This univ has a Master’s Program, “Action for a Viable Future,” which “offers a way to investigate the roots of contemporary problems and to study the processes of change, culminating in a project to address an area of personal concern. Our focus is on the interrelationship between ecological issues and economic/social justice issues.” Read more about the program in Common Ground :)
In addition, the Environmental Technology Center offers a Green Building Professional Certificate Program.
University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. This college’s 3 departments — Architecture, City and Regional Planning, and Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning — works “to build more efficiently, more beautifully, and in ways better fitted to the multiplicity of human, social, and ecological needs.”
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Check out the UCLA Sustainable Resource Center for all the UCLA-based resources that greenies can access at the Bruin school.
If you’re really serious, you might try contacting Prof. Charles Corbett at the Anderson School of Management; he can give you the lowdown on what’s going on :)
University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). UCSC’s Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems works “to research, develop, and advance sustainable food and agricultural systems that are environmentally sound, economically viable, socially responsible, nonexploitative, and that serve as a foundation for future generations.”
You might also look into the Education for Sustainable Living Program at UCSC :)
University of Southern California (USC). Trojan undergrads can major in Environmental Studies.
We also have the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, whose goal’s “to encourage responsible and creative decisions in society by providing an objective source of marine and environmental science and fostering an understanding of the natural world among people of all ages.”
And there’s the Center for Sustainable Cities, which “engages in multidisciplinary research and education on the environmental, social and economic sustainability challenges facing metropolitan regions, and contributes to the development of public policy that improves the natural and human environment of cities.â€
All Trojans can get in on the USC Green Practices Initiative — an initiative to bring together all the faculty, student, and staff efforts for environment and sustainability issues, as well as the school’s Environment First group. In addition, USC’s got Marshall Net Impact, an org of USC MBA students interested in promoting more socially responsible business practices and the Master of Building Science program in the School of Architecture.
Tags: mba, college, university, sustainable, environment, education
I first ran into Sustainable Works at the farmer’s market on Main in Santa Monica. I actually walked past the lil table, then my lil brain registered that I’d just read “sustainable.”
I told this lil story to Ferris, Sustainable Works dude, when I finally met him at the Sustainable Biz Network thing. [left, at choco party]
Genevieve, the exec director (right, at choco party), runs the show, with the help of Ferris and others :) I’ll let you know when the next 6-week section kicks off –
So 
Googled “Hummer” today, and I’m psyched to see the 
Just found out about a rather clunky yet quite engrossing new app from the 
The first place I looked up was 
Considering the fact that yum roasted coffee sells for like $10 an lb in grocery stores, even the 
Look at 
Choco One: 
Choco two:
Choco three: 
Choco four: 
Choco five: 
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Make sure you have enough stuff.
All of the ones here are organic and fair trade, from 
And ask for some brochures in case people want ‘em.
To the left is everything that didn’t need chilling — 
He was kidding — as I found out after handing over both my driver’s license and student ID :P I’m v. slow in the mornings –
Time to eat chocolate — before it melts in this heat!