Student Opportunities
Capstone Project: Policy in Practice
Apply your training to a real-world environmental challenge through a hands-on capstone. Projects span local to global issues—from working farms, watershed governance, and conservation organizations in Cornell’s Finger Lakes region to climate resilience, energy transitions, and sustainability initiatives with international partners.
Courses Taught by Changemakers
Learn from top scholars and practitioners in environmental law, economics, justice, and communication. Our faculty and executives in residence bring firsthand experience from government, advocacy, and international policy circles, helping you stay current and connected.
Elective Pathways
Tailor your studies to align with your interests and career goals. Elective courses allow you to build additional depth in areas connected to climate, energy, food systems, sustainability policy, and other areas of impact.
Campus Sustainability Connections
Benefit from Cornell’s university-wide commitment to sustainability, anchored by the Atkinson Center for Sustainability. This world-class hub brings together faculty, scientists, and global partners working on urgent challenges across climate, energy, food systems, and public health.
Quick ESP Program Facts
Program Schedule
12 months starting in June
Degree Awarded
MS in Environmental and Sustainability Policy
Program Format
Full-time residential and STEM-designated
Why Earn an MS in ESP at the Brooks School?
A Human-First Approach to Environmental Challenges
Unlike programs rooted in science or engineering, this degree starts with people. You’ll learn how to shape the legal, economic, and political systems that drive environmental change, while keeping equity and impact at the center.
Built for Complexity—and Urgency
Today’s environmental problems are layered and fast-moving. This program prepares you to engage with the complexity, translating science into policy, data into decisions, and urgency into action.
Policy Is Personal
At the Brooks School, we know public policy isn’t abstract—it’s lived. It determines who gets clean water, which forests are protected, and how fast we move on climate action. That’s why our students learn to lead with both skill and purpose.
Ivy League Education, Interdisciplinary by Design
At Cornell, you’ll study environmental policy through multiple lenses: law, economics, justice, governance, and communication. Our expert faculty and small cohort model provide deep mentorship and space for big ideas.
Learn Deeply and Live Intentionally in Ithaca
Recently named CNN’s #1 Best Town to Visit in 2025, Ithaca is a living laboratory for environmental policy. With 150+ waterfalls, state parks, sustainability initiatives, and a vibrant community, it offers the perfect setting for reflection, learning, and leadership.
I really fell in love with economics as a lens for analyzing environmental problems, because the problems are so complex, the stakes are so high and the human cost is so large.
– Sheila Olmstead, Professor and Atkinson Center Scholar, past senior economist for energy and the environment at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers
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