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Clark Environmental Science majors may elect to concentrate in Environmental Science and Policy. M.A. and B.A./M.A. Programs are offered in this area by the IDCE Department.
M.A. Program
B.A./M.A. Program
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History of Environmental Science and Policy at Clark
When you join the Environmental Science and Policy (ES&P) Program at Clark, you become part of a tradition of creative leadership built on a pioneering cross-disciplinary foundation.
The decades of the 1960s and1970s were a turning point in U.S. and, by extension, international environmental science and policy. As early as the 1960s, when concerns over air pollution and nuclear fallout were growing nationwide, Clark University was working with the University of Chicago to pioneer approaches to hazards research and teaching. Heightened public alarm about air and water pollution in the U.S. spurred enactment of landmark environmental legislation with the inception of the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), strengthening of the Clean Air Act (1970 Amendments), the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), and the Clean Water Act (1977).
Building on its long tradition of innovative, cross-disciplinary scholarship, Clark established the Science, Technology and Society (STS) Program in 1973 under a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. At the same time, the Graduate School of Geography—the nation’s oldest—began the Graduate Program in Environmental Affairs (EA). The merger of the STS and EA programs in 1984 formed the Environment, Technology and Society (ETS) undergraduate and graduate programs, dedicated to tackling environmental problems in their societal context. ETS evolved into the present Environmental Science and Policy Program.
Clark was the setting in 1972 for a keystone study: Geographers Bob Kates and Roger Kasperson, with physicist Chris Hohensemser, developed a unique approach that applied an understanding of natural disasters to the emerging field of technological hazards and a broader way of assessing risks. And in 1978, cross-disciplinary environmental work was given a further boost with establishment at Clark of the Center for Technology, Environment and Development (CENTED). This was the first center in the United States dedicated to natural and technological hazards research.
To celebrate its centennial in 1987, Clark organized the international symposium “The Earth as Transformed by Human Action.” It promoted an integrated approach to understanding the impacts of human activities on the environment, and established Clark at the forefront of work on the human dimension of global environmental change. Also in 1987, Clark geographer Ron Eastman developed the IDRISI geographic information system to run on a PC as a powerful, affordable alternative to mainstream GIS software.
The George Perkins Marsh Institute was formed in 1991 as Clark’s Environmental Research Institute. The Marsh Institute is comprised of the Jeanne X. Kasperson Research Library and four research centers: the Center for Technology, Environment, and Development (CENTED), the Clark Labs for Cartographic Technology and Geographic Analysis (Clark Labs), the Center for Community-Based Development (CCBD), and the Greening of Industry Network. The Jeanne X. Kasperson Library, one of the world’s premier collections on risks and hazards, holds more than 25,000 volumes (including technical reports, government reports, scholarly books, court cases, and regulatory proceedings), more than 750 journals and newsletters, and special collections on international development, water resources and energy.
In 1999, ES&P joined two existing programs, Geographic Information Science for Development and Environment (GISDE), a joint program with the School of Geography, and the International Development (ID) Program. Another pioneering program started in the 1970s, ID has built a strong reputation for designing and applying participatory approaches to the solution of development problems in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These programs became the core of the present Department of International Development, Community, and Environment. In 2001, a fourth graduate program in Community Development and Planning (CDP) was added, and making ES&P a senior member of a distinguished family of programs.
IDCE recognizes the interdependence of development, environmental management, and policy making on the local, regional, national, and global levels. As part of IDCE, ES&P has gained a broader international scope and appeal and has become even more interdisciplinary. Building upon its impressive legacy of applying natural science and social science to policy making and technology choices—and expanding the view to situations in developing and transitional countries—means ES&P now offers a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary graduate program that attracts students from all over the world. These students come to analyze how humans interact with the natural environment and how stakeholders interact to develop innovative strategies and affect policy.
Encouraging faculty and students to collaborate across disciplines—to share their knowledge, and to learn from each other—is at the heart of the IDCE enterprise. This synergy at IDCE fuels the dynamic action research currently undertaken in the Program of Environmental Science and Policy.
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Academic Catalog & Requirements
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Additional Resources
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 Alejandra Jaramillo travelled to Alaska and British Columbia to research policies for protecting a fish important in the study of evolutionary biology. Read more.
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