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

Orientation Course: Making a Difference in the World
One-week course to introduce the curriculum of the Duke Environmental Leadership (DEL) Program. Provides framework for program studies. Focus on real-world environmental challenges and timely case studies. Field studies in Durham and at Duke University Marine Lab, Beaufort, NC. One credit.

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, and change management. Three credits.

Master’s Project
The master’s project is an integral part of the total education of the professional student in the Nicholas School. It is intended to represent the student's major academic focus, and demonstrate the student's competence in that area. The project integrates course work, seminars, independent projects, and other work-related experiences in an in-depth study that culminates in a professional quality report and a formal presentation. Four 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 multi-attribute 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 using examples from arguably the most manipulated and well-studied watershed in the U.S. These problems and their solutions are relevant to all watersheds. 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. Three credits.

Ecosystem Change: Science and Management Implications
This course will review classical models and case studies of disturbance and ecosystem succession, patch dynamics, and non-equilibrium models for ecosystem change. Particular attention will be given to the influence of invasive species and climate change on patterns of succession and to concepts such as multiple stable points and change thresholds. The implications for management of terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems of these evolving concepts will be emphasized. Lectures, readings and discussion. One credit.

A Landscape Perspective on Environmental Management
Environmental management is pursued at increasingly larger spatial scales. As a direct consequence, we encounter more spatial heterogeneity and logistical constraints on empirical approaches. The field of landscape ecology addresses how these issues influence our ecological understanding and management of natural and semi-natural systems. This course is an applications-driven survey of common tasks in landscape management, including inventory and monitoring programs and prioritizing sites according to various criteria (e.g., diversity hotspots, environmental impacts). Specific applications emphasize ecosystem processes (productivity, hydrology) and conservation planning at large scales. To address the uncertainty that naturally attends these applications, the course is developed in the framework of adaptive management. One credit.

Emerging Perspectives on Landscape Management
This course is developed in response to a few emerging trends in environmental management. First, management is being pursued at increasingly larger spatial scales. Second, the context of management is also rapidly changing, including increasing emphasis on multi-criteria or multi-objective programs, prioritization of sites strictly in relationship to a larger network of units, and adaptive approaches to management. Beyond these trends, it is important to note that the tools of environmental management are also evolving rapidly. This module is designed as a “professional update” in emerging trends, as well as an introduction to new methods being applied in these areas. One credit.

Energy and Environment Today
This course will provide students with a broad overview of why and how we use energy, the complex system that has evolved for furnishing energy, the challenges that our energy use has spawned, specifically with respect to the environment, and possible paths to a sustainable energy future. The course is designed to give students a framework for thinking about why energy-related events are happening, what that means for future energy uses and societal well-being, and how we might change the system moving forward. One credit.

Contemporary Scientific Understanding of Climate Change
This course will provide students with a broad, policy-relevant overview of contemporary scientific understanding of climate change. The recently-released IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) titled ‘Climate Change 2007’will provide the framework for discussion of various aspects of climate change, including the fundamental physical science basis, potential impacts and vulnerability, and mitigation of climate change. One credit.

California Water Management Field Trip
California has long been the poster child for conflict over water management and appropriation. Much of that conflict has focused on the diversion of water from the Sierra Nevada and the Great Central Valley. In this 5-day field course we will provide an overview of the hydrology and history of water development for the Central Valley, and focus on three case studies: Hetch Hetchy, the Californian Aquaduct, and the re-watering of the San Joaquin River. One credit.

Environmental Entrepreneurship
This course addresses the following seven questions: 1) What is entrepreneurship?  2) What is social entrepreneurship?  3) What is environmental entrepreneurship?  4) What differentiates an idea from an opportunity?  5) Is climate/environmental change a source of entrepreneurial opportunity?  6) Is market failure a source of entrepreneurial opportunity?  7) Are others’ waste products a source of entrepreneurial opportunity?  The course uses business case studies, text book chapters, academic journal articles, and internet links to real businesses to enhance understanding of the subject. Students participate in refining a typology of environmental entrepreneurship; one that attempts to define a menu of new business activities that are both profitable and good for the natural environment. Students present an executive summary for a business model that is focused on pursuing a viable opportunity for environmental entrepreneurship. One credit.

Sustainable Development in Chile
In this 5-day field course we will provide an overview of international sustainable development in Chile, while focusing on environmental management at the government level, sustainable forestry, fisheries, and wineries, and eco-tourism. Two credits.

Green Development
In this course, students explore the varying definitions of green development; how it is applied at the community, site and building-level; what it can cost; how it can create economic, social and environmental value; how it can be measured; who is practicing and implementing it; how it is financed; and what third-party standards exist to verify it. The class also explores new opportunities and new models for green development along with its various challenges and limitations. Students examine these topics through structured discussion boards, readings, lectures, conference calls, memorandum writing, analytical exercises and group presentations. Three credits.

*Offerings of elective courses may vary from year to year. Additional courses are planned and may be available each academic year.

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, including number of credits, arranged with instructor. Variable credit (one to three credits).

Short Courses
Through the DEL-MEM program, you can also take one-credit intensive executive education short courses. For more information on the short course program, and a list of upcoming courses, please visit http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/del/continuinged/courses.html.