Students Present their Midterm Workshop Briefings for the Spring Semester

Marking the mid-point of the final semester of the Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy program, students presented their Midterm Briefings for the Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management on Wednesday, March 5th.  In the spring workshops, ESP students work with clients to address needs or challenges in various areas of environmental policy. This semester’s clients are the United Nations World Food Programme, U.S. EPA Region II, the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, Sustainable South Bronx and its Green-for-All Project, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The midterm workshop briefings provide students the opportunity to share with their cohort the details of their workshop projects, as well as some of the challenges they have faced and the solutions they found to manage them. Further, the briefings provide professional training by serving as simulations of presentations that students can expect to give during their careers in environmental policy.

“The purpose of the spring-semester workshop is threefold,” said Steve Cohen, Director of the MPA-ESP program, in his opening remarks. “To share understanding of how each group is approaching their projects and the methodologies being used; to discuss the practical problems associated with conducting policy analysis in an action environment with a client; and to explain how they have framed the problems addressed and to cut them down to a manageable size.”

Professor Cohen noted that, “The workshop is not mainly about the substance of these projects—although it is substantive—but about the process of analysis. Our pedagogical objective is to learn how to take a policy problem that is thrown at us by our boss and get organized logistically, intellectually, and methodologically to make progress toward a solution—so your goal today is to learn how the other groups have approached their project, compare it to your own and learn.”

The workshop teams were advised by Professors Kathleen Callahan, Steve Cohen, Tanya Heikkila, Gail Suchman, and Sara Tjossem. Professor Callahan, the EPA Deputy Regional Administrator of Region 2, advised the workshop team covering the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Climate Change in West Africa.  The WFP is the world’s largest food aid organization, serving 88 million people in 78 countries each year.  However, climate change has exacerbated the problems of rain-dependent agriculture through flooding, drought, pests, disease, and environmental degradation.  The Columbia team is creating strategies for incorporating climate change adaptation into WFP projects.  They have created a climate change assessment framework and matrix, and will use this to identify opportunities for improvement and develop recommendations.

Another team worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop environmental sustainability plans for municipalities in Region II.  Professor Cohen, Director of the MPA-ESP program as well as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Earth Institute, advised that team.  The team has conducted initial research on municipalities that have developed sustainability plans and a needs assessment of towns without plans, and will synthesize research to develop a practical handbook for sustainability that will be presented to the EPA and distributed nationally to municipalities.

Another project involves the evaluation of opportunities and challenges for integrating the Ocean Observing System into Coastal Zone Management in the Mid-Atlantic.  Professor Heikkila, a SIPA professor who was recently awarded a three-year grant by the National Science Foundation to study interstate river basin compacts in the Western United States, worked with the team.  The Integrated Ocean Observing System aims to make climate predictions, promote maritime safety, minimize public health risks, and support ecological and resource management decision-making.  Columbia’s team has been working with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association to incorporate this system into the New York bight.

The team working with Sustainable South Bronx has been working on the Green Collar Jobs project to develop a model for a retrofit training program. Professor Suchman, lecturer at SIPA and Columbia Law School, and Senior Legal Advisor to the Urban Design Lab for Sustainable Development at Columbia's Earth Institute, is advising the team.  The team has been conducting research, and will design a retrofit training program to promote energy conservation, provide employment, educate workers, and encourage outside investment.

The final team is working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to Professor Tjossem, Lecturer and Associate Director of Curriculum for MPA-ESP program, worked with the team evaluating biomass life cycle emissions calculation methods for use by electricity-generating facilities.  The NJ DEP aims to recommend a course of action by considering options and policies, but needs more information about renewable fuels.  The Columbia team is analyzing the potential of using biofuels to generate electricity in New Jersey.  They have been constructing models and assessing current policies, and will present a report to the NJ DEP.