International Master of Environmental Policy

Overview

Duke offers an international master’s degree in environmental policy at Duke Kunshan University. The 4-semester, 16-course International Master of Environmental Policy (iMEP) is designed to meet the growing global need for leaders versed in Chinese and international environmental issues and policies.

Objective

This program is the first in the world to draw together the important core requirements in environmental management and public policy. These include economics, political science, sociology, history, law, statistics and environmental science.

The impacts of these challenges are compounded by concerns about climate change and food security, and extend far beyond Asia’s shores. There is now unprecedented demand for policy analysts and environmental and business managers who understand the issues, can recognize global and local opportunities for addressing them, and help governments, businesses and nongovernmental organizations forge solutions.

The City of Kunshan

Kunshan lies in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta Region, one of the most developed areas in China. Bordering Shanghai, a large international metropolis, to its east and Suzhou, one of the country’s most renowned cultural and historical cities, to its west, Kunshan is an emerging industrial and commercial city with a history dating back more than 2000 years.

Local residents have equal access to the best urban infrastructure and amenities, including large shopping malls, state-of-the-art cultural and sport facilities, open cultural and natural parks, and public transportation. Rapid advancement in rail traffic has brought Kunshan people much closer to its surrounding areas.

Kunshan has won many titles, including the top of Chinese Mainland’s Best County-level Cities by Forbes China for seven consecutive years and the 2010 UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor Award. The DKU Art Project attracts artists from China and abroad who are interested in displaying their work within the liberal arts environment of DKU. Residents enjoy and preserve its rich cultural and historical resources. Kunqu Opera is now listed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Duke Environment provides opportunities for purpose-driven individuals to learn about or pursue careers that make positive contributions to the environment and the world. We bring together bright, talented and ambitious people from across the globe whose interests vary from conservation to climate change and everything in between.

Mission

CREATING KNOWLEDGE

We create knowledge through basic, applied, and multidisciplinary research in the relevant physical, life, and social sciences designed to expand our understanding of the Earth and its environment.

CREATING GLOBAL LEADERS

We develop leadership through:

An undergraduate academic program designed to spread understanding of the Earth and the environmental ethic to a new cadre of Duke graduates

A professional masters program that trains a new breed of environmental professionals working in the public, private, and non-profit sectors with the skills needed to devise and implement effective environmental policies and practices

A Ph.D. program dedicated to adding to a new generation of world-class scientists, researchers, and educators in the environment

FORGING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

We strategically focus the intellectual resources and capital amassed in research and education to address three of the most challenging environmental issues confronting society:

Climate and Energy

Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems

Human Health and the Environment

History

The Nicholas School celebrates it creation date as 1991, but it represents a coming together of three entities that are almost as old as the university itself. The School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Duke University Marine Lab (both formed in 1938) came together in 1991 to become the School of the Environment, which was named the Nicholas School of the Environment in 1995 following a $20 million gift from Peter M. and Ginny Nicholas of Boston. In 1997, the Department of Geology (formed in 1936) joined the school as the Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences and focuses on a number of areas at the intersection of earth and environmental sciences.

FOUNDED

• Nicholas School of the Environment: 1991
• Duke University Marine Lab: 1938
• School of Forestry: 1938
• Department of Geology: 1936