Environmental Economics Major

Advisers Globus-Harris, Klotz

The environmental economics major program focuses on the relationships between the economic system and the natural environment, including the use of the natural environment as an economic asset and the impact on the natural environment of the economic system. In addition to courses stressing economic analysis, the major program includes a study of the relevant sciences, humanities and other social sciences.

This major is part of the Environmental Studies (ENST) Program and is designed for students who are interested in analyzing environmental issues using the framework of economics. Students take a set of courses in the ENST program as well as economics courses that have an environmental emphasis but also provide breadth in economics. The ENST courses focus on interdisciplinary approaches to ethical, natural scientific, and social scientific aspects of environmental issues.

For students graduating in the Class of 2025 and earlier, please refer to prior University Catalog requirements.

Major Requirements

The major program consists of the following requirements:

Environmental Studies Courses (seven)

All of the Following

• ENST 200 - Environmental Science: Challenges and Solutions  and ENST 200L 
• ENST 202/PHIL 202 - Environmental Ethics  
• ENST 450 - Community-based Study of Environmental Issues

One of the following introductory environmental science courses:

• CHEM 100 - The Chemistry of Altered and Natural Environments
• ENST 240 - Sustainability: Science and Analysis
• GEOG 231 - Geography of the Physical Environment
• GEOL 101 - Environmental Geology
• GEOL 102 - Sustainable Earth
• GEOL 135 - Oceanography and the Environment
• GEOL 190 - Evolution of Planet Earth

One of the following environmental justice courses:

• ENST 232 - Environmental Justice
• ENST 321 - Global Environmental Justice

Other required courses (two):

• One course from the Arts and Humanities Courses Related to the Environment list.
• One course from the Environmental Studies Depth Electives list.

Economics Courses (seven)

All of the Following

• ECON 151 - Introduction to Economics
• ECON 251 - Intermediate Microeconomics (with a minimum grade of C)
• ECON 252 - Intermediate Macroeconomics (with a minimum grade of C)
• ECON 375 - Applied Econometrics (with a minimum grade of C)
• ECON 483 - Seminar in Resource and Environmental Economics (or, with permission of the major adviser and program director, another economics seminar with a research project focused on an environmental or resource issue)
• MATH 105 - Introduction to Statistics

One of the Following

• ECON 228 - Environmental Economics
• ECON 383 - Natural Resource Economics

Major Declaration

In order to declare an environmental economics major, students must have first earned a grade of C or better in either ECON 251 or ECON 252. Students who declare a major while enrolled in one of these courses may file "provisional" major declarations. Students with a grade lower than C in ECON 251, ECON 252, or ECON 375 may not declare an environmental economics until a grade of C or higher is earned.

Honors and High Honors

Environmental Economics students interested in pursuing honors follow the same process outlined for honors in Economics; see the catalog listing for the Economics major and consult your academic advisor for more details.

Environmental Studies Program

For more information about the department, including Faculty, transfer credit, awards, etc., please visit the Environmental Studies program catalog page.