Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Undergraduate Program - Environmental Economics and Policy

Studies in Environmental Economics and Policy*

Students in the Environmental Economics and Policy concentration in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics study environmental and resource management issues at the local, state, national, and international levels. Course options include law, policy, management, administration, quantitative methods, and sociology, as well as economics.

Career Opportunities

Students learn how to assess the economic aspects of resource and environmental issues and find rewarding positions in government, industry, consulting firms, and public interest groups. Graduates might work directly with resource and environmental services such as mining, forest production, recycling, and waste disposal, or in firms whose production activities affect the environment. Resource and environmental economists work in legislative offices, interest groups, and agencies, including agriculture, environmental protection, conservation land management, and transportation agencies.

Students pursuing their interest in environmental issues through the Environmental Economics and Policy concentration typically take classes in agriculture and the environment, law and the natural sciences to learn about current issues and problems. While one of the students is doing a special project studying groundwater contamination in Illinois and methods to value those environmental damages, another is completing a summer internship with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and still another student is examining the costs and benefits of recycling in Urbana-Champaign. Many of these students are thinking about graduate school or law school to continue their study of environmental and resource policy.

For more information please contact:
Dr. John B. Braden
304 Mumford Hall
1301 West Gregory Drive
Urbana, Illinois 61801
Phone (217)333-1811
Fax (217)333-5538
jbb@illinois.edu

More details are provided in the ACES Student Handbook.

The University of Illinois provides equal opportunity in programs and employment.

*This curriculum is available effective Fall 2006. The information provided herein is correct to the best of our knowledge as of May 2006. Specific requirements may change as programs and courses evolve. Students considering applying may contact the Department of Agricultureal and Consumer Economics for the most current information.