Duke Environmental Leadership Program

Courses & Curriculum

Program Components | Core Modules | Focused Modules | Executive Education Courses

Program Components

The Duke Environmental Leadership Master of Environmental Management (DEL-MEM) is a two-year, 30-credit program.

• Orientation course at the Duke campus -- 1 credit
• Core courses -- 12 credits
  • Ecosystem Science and Management
  • Economics of Environmental Management
  • Environmental Law and Policy
  • Program Management for Environmental Professionals
• Focused courses/electives developed around specialized themes -- 12 credits
  • Environmental Decision Analysis
  • U.S. Land Use Policy
  • Business Strategy for Environmental Sustainability
  • Seeing the Big Picture: Lessons from California Watershed Management
  • Independent Studies and Projects
  • Rotating 1-credit courses focusing on current and emerging issues, such as landscape ecology, ecosystem change, environmental information and analysis systems, global climate change, energy issues, etc.
• Environmental leadership module in Washington, DC, featuring
  prominent leaders from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors (learn more >)-- 1 credit
• Master’s project directly related to the student’s current employment -- 4 credits

TOTAL -- 30 credits

Core Courses

Ecosystem Science and Management
Environmental management must be accomplished in the context of arbitrary temporal and spatial boundaries, complexity, dynamic processes, uncertainty, and varied and changing human values. Topics in this course include adaptive management, decision-making in the context of uncertainty, conflict resolution, strategic planning, evaluation and accountability. Case studies cover terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems and an array of social and institutional settings. Three credits.

Economics of Environmental Management
This course provides an economic perspective on the management of environmental resources. Conceptual topics include environmental externalities, market failure, public goods, sustainability, and benefit-cost analysis. Emphasis on the use of economics in understanding and solving environmental problems. Case studies include carbon trading to address climate change and the use of economic incentives for biodiversity conservation. Three credits.

Environmental Law and Policy
Environmental policies have evolved from strict reliance on command and control systems to experimentation with alternative approaches. In this course students study this evolution by first examining the history and context of U.S. policy development processes and institutions. Command approaches to air and water pollution and waste management are considered along with alternative approaches, such as market-based programs, public-private partnerships and voluntarism. Policies for managing land, natural resources, species protection and addressing transnational and global environmental problems are examined. Policy implementation and devolution of responsibilities to state and local governments and the private sector is stressed. Three credits.

Program Management for Environmental Professionals
In the private and public sectors, as well as not-for-profit organizations, managerial effectiveness is central to environmental leadership. This course focuses on the development of management skills including decision-making, motivation, working in teams, organizational cultures, organizational design, learning organizations and change management. Three credits.

Focused courses/electives

Environmental Decision Analysis
In environmental management, things don't always turn out as expected. You must address multiple goals, even when those goals themselves conflict. You must respond to diverse stakeholders, with varying worldviews. The tools of decision analysis help you to -- going beyond unaided intuition -- organize and analyze difficult environmental management decisions. This course covers quantitative methods for analyzing environmental problems involving uncertainty and multiple, conflicting objectives. Topics include subjective probability, utility, value of information, and multiattribute methods. Students will apply these tools to an environmental policy decision in a group or individual project. Three credits.

U.S. Land Use Policy
This course covers the economic and demographic forces that drive the allocation of land among alternative uses, and the institutional structure that has evolved in the U.S. at local, state and federal levels to deal with land use problems. Topics include food and timber supply, federal lands, sprawl, industrial siting, property rights, and coastal zone management. Three credits.

Business Strategy for Environmental Sustainability
Businesses are increasingly applying strategic management tools to incorporate considerations of sustainability into decision-making and operations. While some businesses incorporate sustainable practices because of an ethical conviction to do well for the environment, most businesses are motivated to do so to address pressures from stakeholders such as regulators, shareholders, customers and neighbors and to exploit knowledge and experience for long-term competitive advantage. This course focuses on the development and implementation of strategies to promote environmental sustainability. Students examine roles and responsibilities of sustainable strategic managers and learn how to apply the tools of strategic management, such as external analysis, forecasting and stakeholder management to problems of sustainability. Business case studies are a critical component of this course. Three credits.

Seeing the Big Picture: Lessons from California Watershed Management
This course is an exploration of the interdisciplinary and often controversial nature of watershed management in California using examples from arguably the most manipulated and well-studied watershed in the US. These problems and their solutions are relevant to all watersheds. The California Bay-Delta Authority oversees the implementation of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program for the 25 state and federal agencies working cooperatively to improve the quality and reliability of California’s water supplies while restoring the Bay-Delta ecosystem. Topics include: host factors governing fish and wildlife responses and effects; fate, transport and biogeochemistry of agricultural chemicals; exotic species introduction; economic considerations governing water allocation storage, transport, and conservation; and conflict resolution efforts between competing interest groups. Begun in 2000, CALFED now includes the following major program areas: science, water management, storage, conveyance, water use efficiency, water transfers, ecosystem restoration, environmental water account, watershed management, drinking water quality, and levee system integrity. Three credits.

Independent Studies and Projects
Directed readings or research at the graduate level to meet the needs of individual students. This course designation should be used for work that can be completed within the semester of registration. Independent study work may be related to MP interests, but students should clearly define the two projects (same work should not be counted as both independent study credit and MP credit). Consent of instructor required. Project details arranged with instructor. One credit.

Executive Education Courses

Students can also take one-credit intensive short courses through the DEL Continuing and Executive Education program. For more information on the program, and a list of upcoming courses, click here.