Master's in Climate Science and Policy

The Climate Science Master's features a unique, modular core curriculum where students explore issues like air and atmosphere pollution, biodiversity loss, or ecosystem services simultaneously in their science, economics, law and policy courses. This unique structure creates a powerful dialogue across disciplines, always driving toward solutions. Other climate science programs cannot deliver this level of interdisciplinary focus across classes, as students typically do not take the same courses together. Bard's core curriculum allows faculty to coordinate closely across classes, allowing the program to complete the delivery of the foundational climate policy toolkit in nine months. This frees up the second year of study for the professional internship and capstone project.

The M.S. in Climate Science and Policy offers every student individualized engagement with expert faculty on student research, writing, and communication. Our small class size and dedicated graduate faculty provide students with unmatched access to their professors and mentorship opportunities. Bard was recently ranked #1 in the US for classroom experience—the Graduate Programs in Sustainability carry that tradition of excellence forward.

All CEP students complete a 4-6 month, student-driven, full-time internship from June to January of the second year in NYC, DC, internationally, or wherever leading-edge policy work is being done. 

The internship is a major item on our graduates' resumes, and supports development of their career networks. Between 30% and 50% of internships turn directly into jobs. The internship also typically forms the basis for the students' Master's Capstone Projects.

Bard CEP helps students find internship opportunities with a variety of institutions, and is continuously expanding its list of internship sponsors. The internship allows students to follow their preferred areas of specialization locally, elsewhere in the United States, or abroad. The internship gives students an applied focus to their degree and an opportunity to learn in a professional setting the job-specific skills they will use upon graduation.

Selected List of Internship Placements:

• Amazónicos por la Amazonía–AMPA (Peru)
• American Museum of Natural History, Center for Biodi-versity and Conservation
• Campanario Research Reserve (Costa Rica)
• Center for Disease Control
• Chinese Academy of Sciences Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (China)
• Conservation Law Foundation
• Council on Competitiveness
• Earth Pledge | Ecologic Institute (Germany)
• Environ-mental Advocates of New York
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
• Food and Water Watch
• German Marshall Fund
• IBM Corporation
• Instituto de la Naturaleza y la Sociedad INSO (Mexico)
• International Food Policy Research Institute
• Malawi Sustainable Agricultural Project (Africa)
• University of Maryland Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology
• National Resources Defense Council
• New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
• Nike
• New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
• Ocean Acidification Research Center
• Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
• Pace Energy and Climate Center
• Resources for the Future | Riverkeeper, Inc.
• Scenic Hudson
• Slow Food USA
• The Beacon Institute
• The Energy and Resource Institute, TERI (India)
• The Nature Conservancy
• U.S. Agency for International Development
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, Wetlands Division
• United Nations Environment Programme 
• Winrock Internation-al
• Woods Hole Research Center
• World Resources Institute  

Students engage hands-on with local, regional and global sustainability challenges while in residence at Bard, in the beautiful Hudson Valley in New York State. During their first year, students work with local community groups to address regional PFAS/PFOS water contamination.

In January of their first year, all students also participate in a ten-day immersion in Oaxaca, Mexico, focused on sustainable development. Read this letter home from Professor Segarra, and watch this video for more information.

In the second year, some students pursue international internships, while others work on local and regional challenges in the US. 

Bard CEP also offers students the opportunity to combine their graduate work with Peace Corps service - click here to learn more.

At Bard, the Master's Project provides the opportunity for students to develop true mastery in their chosen field of interest, ranging across topics such as water, energy, biodiversity, toxic pollution, and environmental justice. Unlike at many other schools where a capstone project is derivative of a faculty member's research interest, at Bard, students develop their own capstone topics, typically focused on solving an environmental policy problem identified during the student's internship. In these cases, students devote an entire year to practical work in the area in which they are passionate: six months of hands-on experience, coupled with six months of academic analysis and reflection through their capstone work. This kind of mastery provides a strong foundation for career success. Each Master's Project is carefully mentored by two Bard CEP Faculty members, including a primary and secondary advisor. 

Careers in climate change require "changing the rules" to incentivize sustainable outcomes. Graduates with a Master's in Climate Science do this work in a wide variety of professional settings in national, international, state and local government; in nongovernmental organizations; in consulting firms and private corporations; and in development, advocacy, and conservation organizations. The integrated curriculum, the extended professional internship, and the capstone project come together to give our students the knowledge and the practical experience to gain meaningful jobs in their chosen arena. In a typical year, close to 40% of Bard CEP students are already employed upon graduation, primarily as a result of job offers arising from the professional internship. On average, 75-85% of graduates find work in the environmental sector within six months of graduation.

To learn about the diverse careers our graduates are pursuing, please review our Alumni Profiles.