Summer Internship Experience
Ben McCormack did his summer internship at CLIF Bar & Company. His job: To help the company create its first Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) report, a critical step toward achieving its emissions-reductions goal.
master's project
Olivia Eskew (MEM’18) focused her master's project on creating a guide to assist solar developers and farmers reap the agricultural and financial benefits of developing solar farms that use pollinator-friendly vegetation.
Transferable Skills
Business & Environment students receive in-depth training in:
- Finance
- Life cycle and value chain analysis
- Strategic analysis
- Stakeholder analysis
- Applied data analysis
- Appreciative Inquiry
Curriculum
Our curriculum will introduce you to how multinational firms and small and medium enterprises address environmental, economic and social sustainability imperatives. It leaves plenty of room for you to customize your educational experience to meet your interests and career goals, whether they involve a focus on supply chains, compliance, strategy or product innovation.
Your faculty advisor will work with you to select a curriculum and area of specialization based on your interests and goals. You can choose from courses across Duke and at our partner institutions.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites for all mem students
- See Master of Environmental Management program prerequisites.
ADDITional prerequisiteS for be Students
- 1 semester of college-level microeconomics. Alternatively, this requirement can be fulfilled with one semester of introductory economics, if your course had a focus on micro rather than macroeconomics.
Courses & Requirements
Overview
Required for All Nicholas School Students
All MEM students must take the following courses:
- ENVIRON 898 Program Area Seminar (1 credit hour to be awarded at the end of 4 semesters)
- ENVIRON 899 Master’s Project (4-6 credit hours)
Required for Business & Environment Program
Credit requirements specific to the Business & Environment program include:
- Required Core Courses (12 credit hours)
- Applied Methods Courses (9 credit hours)
- Physical and Natural Sciences (9 credit hours)
- Concentration Electives (9 credit hours)
- Other Electives (3-6 credit hours)
- Additional electives to meet the 48-credit hour minimum for degree completion
Required Core Courses
- ENVIRON 811
Business and Environment (3 credit hours, fall first year) - ENVIRON 973/831
Business Strategy for Sustainability (3 credit hours, spring), or STRATEGY 627 Sustainable Business Strategy (3 credit hours, Fuqua fall 1), or MBA 869 Corporate Environmental Strategy (3 credit hours, KFBS fall 1), or MBA 831C Strategy and Sustainability (3 credit hours, KFBS fall 1) - ENVIRON 520 & 521
Resource and Environmental Economics I (ENVIRON 520), 1.5 credits and Resource and Environmental Economics II (ENVIRON 521), 1.5 credits
Note: Students may choose between ENVIRON 521 Resource and Environmental Economics II (1.5 credits), or ENVIRON 635 Energy Economics (1.5 credits), or ENVIRON 680 Forest Economics (1.5 credits) in the fall. - ENVIRON 796
Financial Foundations for Environ .Managers/Intro to Finance (3 credits, fall)
Courses supporting the BE program are taught within the Nicholas School, at several other departments at Duke, and at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University. This list of example courses is not exhaustive.
Applied Methods Courses (select 9 credit hours)
Students should select those Applied Methods courses to develop skills necessary to practice as a business and environment professional. Course selection should be reviewed with the faculty advisor.
- ENVIRON 557 Social Science Surveys (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 638 Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 658 Applied Qualitative Research Methods (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 680 Economics of Forest Resources (1.5 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 710 Applied Data Analysis for Env. Sciences (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 716L Modeling for Energy Systems (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 740 Water Resources Planning and Management (1.5 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 741 Water Resource Finance (1.5 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 790 Environmental Reporting and Certification (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 752 Sustainability and Renewable Res Econ (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 832 Environmental Decision Analysis (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 872L Environmental Data Analytics (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENERGY 620 Energy Finance (3 credit hours, spring)
- STRATEGY 895 Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (6 credits, fall2 & spring1)
- ENGRMGMT 530 Finance in High Tech Industries (3 credithours, fall)
- ENGRMGMT 532 Advanced Corp. Finance in High Tech Industries (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENGRMGMT 560 Project Management (3 credit hours, fall, spring)
- ENGRMGMT 562 Operations management (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENGRMGMT 563 Supply Chain Management (3 credit hours, spring)
Physical and Natural Sciences (select 9 credit hours)
Students should select Physical and Natural Science electives to learn about the scientific underpinnings of the interactions between business and the environment. Course selection should be reviewed with the faculty advisor.
- ENVIRON 501 Environmental Toxicology (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 540 Chemical Fate of Organic Compounds (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 542L Environmental Aquatic Chemistry (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 552 Climate and Society (3 credits hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 603 Air Quality: Management (1.5 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON604 Air Quality: Human Health Effects (1.5 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 624 Agriculture and Sustainability (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 631Energy Technology and Impact on the Environment (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 634 Ecosystem Services (2 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 711 Energy and the Environment (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 714 Landscape Ecology (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 721 Soil Resources (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 812 Wetlands Ecology and Management (3 credit hours, fall)
- EOS 511 The Climate System (3 credit hours, spring)
- EOS 524 Water Quality Health (3 credit hours, fall and spring)
- EOS 525 Fundamentals of Water Biogeochemistry and Pollution (3 credit hours, fall)
- EOS 527 International Water Resources (3 credit hours, fall)
- EOS 550 Climate and Society (3 credit hours, fall)
- EOS 715 Introduction to Coastal Environmental Change (3 credit hours, fall)
- EOS 723 Hydrology (3 credit hours, fall)
- CEE 683 Groundwater Hydrology (3 credit hours, fall)
Concentration Electives (select 9 credit hours)
Students select courses listed below plus any additional electives that fulfill Nicholas School of the Environment MEM requirements. Course selection should be reviewed with the faculty advisor.
- ENVIRON 550 Land Use Principles & Policy (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 556 Environmental Conflict Resolution (2 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 577 Environmental Politics (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 630 Transportation and Energy (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 717Markets for Electric Power (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 733 Risk Regulation in the US, Europe and Beyond (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 738 US Water Governance (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 755 Community-based Environmental Management (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 762 Megatrends (1.5 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 767 Entrepreneurial Experience (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON782 Marketing for Environmental Professionals (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 826 Global Environmental Politics (1.5 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 830 Building Energy on Campus (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENVIRON 835 Environmental Law (3 credit hours, fall)
- ENVIRON 891 Topics in Environmental Regulation (1.5, spring)
- MANAGEMT 750 Social Entrepreneurship (3 credit hours, spring)
- ENERGYENV 625 Energy, Markets and Innovation (3 credit hours, fall)
- EGRMGMT 574 Commercializing Technology Innovations (3 credit hours, fall)
- MARKETNG 797-301 Consumer Behavior (3 credit hours, spring)
Free Electives (select 3-6 credit hours)
Students may select any additional courses that satisfy the guidelines set by the Nicholas School. Many BE students opt to take additional business related electives to fulfill their MEM program credit hours requirements.
Specialization in the BE Program
BE Students may seek to focus their studies on confronting specific environmental challenges. Three specialization tracks – water, climate and energy, and ecology and agriculture – offer curricula which focuses learning and skills building around an area of interest. The tracks also provide opportunities for you to effectively collaborate with students and faculty in other core Nicholas concentrations such as energy and environment (EE), water resources management (WRM), and ecosystem science and conservation (ESC).
Suggested course selection for BE tracks are listed below.
If you choose to specialize, you should take three credit hours each in applied methods and concentration electives and six credit hours in the natural and physical sciences category, for a total of twelve credit hours, to be qualified as concentrating in a track.
Water Track
Applied Methods
- ENVIRON 638: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
- ENVIRON 740: Water Resources Planning and Management
- ENVIRON 741: Water Resources Finance
Natural and Physical Sciences
- ENVIRON 549: California Water Crises
- ENVIRON 734L: Watershed Hydrology
- ENVIRON 744: Ecology and Conservation of Streams
- ENVIRON 812: Wetlands Ecology and Management
- ENVIRON 808: Aquatic and Wetland Field Skills
- EOS 524: Water Quality Health
- EOS 527: International Water Resources
- EOS 715: Introduction to Coastal Environmental Change
- EOS 723: Hydrology
- CEE 683: Groundwater Hydrology
Concentration Electives
- ENVIRON 738: US Water Governance
- ENVIRON 835:Environmental Law
- LAW 320: Water Resources Law
Climate and Energy Track
Applied Methods
- ENVIRON 635:Energy Economics and Policy
- ENVIRON 638: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
- ENVIRON 640: Climate Change Econ & Policy
- ENVIRON 716L: Modeling for Energy Systems
- ENERGY 620: Energy Finance
Natural and Physical Sciences
- ENVIRON 552: Climate and Society
- ENVIRON 623L: Ecological Diversity and Climate Change
- ENVIRON 631: Energy Technology and Environmental Impacts
- ENVIRON 711: Energy and the Environment
- EOS 511: The Climate System
Concentration Electives
- ENVIRON 592: U.N. Climate Change Negotiations Practicum
- ENVIRON 630: Transportation and Energy
- ENVIRON 717: Markets for Electric Power
- ENVIRON 830: Building Energy on Campus
- ENVIRON 835:Environmental Law
- LAW 502: Climate Change and the Law
Ecology and Agriculture Track
Applied Methods
- ENVIRON 638: Environmental Life CycleAssessment
- ENVIRON 680: Economics of Forest Resources
Natural and Physical Sciences
- ENVIRON 623L: Ecological Diversity and Climate Change
- ENVIRON 624: Agriculture and Sustainability
- ENVIRON 634: Ecosystem Services
- ENVIRON 646: Urban Ecology
- ENVIRON 714: Landscape Ecology
- ENVIRON 721: Soil Resources
- ENVIRON 812: Wetlands Ecology and Management
- EOS 723: Hydrology
Concentration Electives
- ENVIRON 550: Land Use Principles & Policy
- ENVIRON 755: Community-based Environmental Management
For Current & Admitted Students
- MEM & MF Admitted Students Website
- Master's Advising Guide - Academic policies; guidelines from the NSOE Registrar
Master's Projects
A Master’s Project combines the academic rigor of a thesis with the practical experience of an internship. Working singly or in groups, students apply skills and knowledge they’ve acquired in the classroom to tackle real-world environmental challenges for real clients through a well-formulated and defensible analysis. The MP typically culminates in a paper and presentation in your final semester. It fulfills 4-6 credit hours. The BE program requires a business-sponsored MP with specific consulting components detailed to you when you start your second year.
Your Future
The Nicholas School’s dedicated Career & Professional Development Center has helped BE graduates find fulfilling positions in a wide array of business sectors. Our graduates serve in both traditional environmental and sustainability positions, as well as roles within project teams focused on supply chain, responsible sourcing, logistics, sales and marketing, product design, corporate strategy, government affairs and community engagement.
Among the high-profile places you’ll find our alums are: Nike, Deloitte, Clif Bar and Company, the US EPA and Pepsi Co.
Most Recent Employer List for BE Graduates
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY / START-UP
- Allianz Global Investors; Infrastructure Debt Associate - New York, NY
- *Circ; Vice President of Operations and Sustainability - Durham, NC
- East Rock Apiary LLC; Founder and Managing Director - New Haven, CT
- Lovevery; ESG Manager - Boise, ID
- Neuberger Berman; ESG Investing Associate - New York, NY
- *Nike; Finance Manager, MBA Leadership Program - Durham, NC
- Piedmont Microgreens; Owner - Durham, NC
- Raymond James Financial; Fixed Income ESG Analyst - St. Petersburg, FL
- Republic Services; General Manager, Accelerated Program - New Brunswick, NJ
CONSULTING
- ERM; Strategy and Disclosure Consultant - Nashville, TN and New York, NY
- HXE Partners; Sustainability and ESG Analyst - New York, NY
- RE Tech Advisors; Sustainability Consultant - Washington D.C
- SCS Global Services; Analyst - Detroit, MI
NON-PROFIT / NGO / RESEARCH / THINK TANK
- Duke University; Business and Environment Fellow - Durham, NC
*MEM/MBA concurrent degree
**MEM/JD concurrent degree
***MEM/MPP concurrent degree
****MEM/MF concurrent degree (listed under both degree programs)
+ MF/MBA concurrent degree
++ MEM/MEM concurrent degree
The first destination employment report for December and May Master of Environmental Management and Master of Forestry graduates covers geographic distribution, employment by sector and salary ranges.
Many of the classes in the Business and Environment concentration are client-focused, enabling you to work on projects with real companies. That experience and the projects' outcomes will help you showcase your skills when applying for a job.”
–Temis Coral Castellanos, MEM’19, Senior Sustainability Consultant at John Beath Environmental, LLC
From the Program Chair
Pervasive global environmental and social challenges—such as climate change, water resource scarcity, renewable energy access, food insecurity and social inequality—call for managers and leaders who can establish practical and economically viable sustainability solutions. These groundbreaking individuals will lead the way in: identifying critical environmental problems; developing innovative, new products and services; leveraging the resources of the private sector; and ultimately solving these challenges to the benefit of both the corporation and the public.
The Business & Environment Program is a multi-faceted, post-graduate education degree that is widely recognized as a leader at the intersection of environment, equity and economy. We develop top-tier talent for private and public sector enterprises who seek to develop robust, triple bottom-line products and services and improve their environmental and social governance (ESG). Many educational programs have recently emerged to serve the surging demand for environmental experts in business; however, the Nicholas School Business & Environment Program stands alone with a long history of creating leaders who have deep knowledge in both the science and business of sustainability.
alums' research lights up flagship net zero energy Mcdonald's
From an environmental point of view, the most magical new attraction at the Magic Kingdom this year isn’t a ride or show. It’s a McDonald’s – the first of its kind anywhere – that generates all its own energy from renewable sources.
The Art of Mastering Concurrent Degrees
Environmental issues today can be complex, crossing many legal, political, economic and health fields, and requiring a multidisciplinary approach to finding solutions. Meet four alumni who took advantage of concurrent degree programs to expand their skillsets and professional networks.
Alum Helps Create National Marine Sanctuary
It took five years of planning, dozens of negotiations, hundreds of meetings, briefings and community events, and an inexhaustible supply of coffee and optimism for Joel Dunn MEM'04 to realize his dream of seeing Mallows Bay designated as a national marine sanctuary.
MEM Alum to host National Geographic documentary
Shannon Switzer Swanson MEM'15 will act as on-air host for “The Last Drop," a National Geographic Channel documentary about water scarcity in the West and the extraordinary efforts underway to preserve the dwindling supply.
Nicholas Alumna takes us inside California’s wildfire crisis
As wildfires in 2020 sent thousands in California fleeing their homes, attention focused on the role of the state's largest utility. Duke alumna Melissa Semcer, MEM'07, had the job of holding the utility accountable.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Connect with us at an upcoming event to meet our admissions team and gain in-depth information about our degree programs.
Check out the how to apply page for admissions requirements and deadlines, and to begin working on your application.
You’ll find Nicholas School alums pursuing their passion and making positive impacts worldwide. Our programs give them the foundational knowledge and practical skills to become leaders and innovators in a wide array of fields and sectors.
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October 17, 2019 | Sustainability
