The Environment and Sustainability Ph.D. equips students with diverse perspectives to develop new insights, ideas, knowledge and approaches to the most important concerns facing people and the planet. The program provides a deep understanding of how knowledge from environmental science and sustainability can be applied to research and address key environmental challenges that require skills in multiple disciplines—preparing students for a range of careers in academia, as well as public and private sectors.
UCLA and IoES are uniquely positioned to offer a Ph.D. through an innovative program that addresses the complexity of issues that come together today. Issues are intertwined, interacting and involve multiple aspects of the contemporary world, we prepare students to unpack this complexity and advance knowledge. As a world-class public research university, UCLA provides access to a vast range of expertise across the physical and life sciences, humanities, fine arts, social sciences and major fields of professional training. The program is oriented to encourage students to develop new knowledge through weaving together different disciplines to provide better understanding. Within UCLA, IoES is a unique unit, offering multiple degree programs and issue-focused research centers, strengths that make it the campus-wide hub for teaching and research in environment and sustainability. IoES also has the largest breadth of interdisciplinary participants of any peer institution, with 60+ associated faculty from more than 25 campus units, including faculty who hold joint appointments between IoES and other departments or schools.
Located in one of the world’s greatest and most diverse metropolitan areas, UCLA is uniquely situated to be a laboratory for engagement and partnership that puts knowledge into practice to advance concrete environment and sustainability strategies. As one prominent example, UCLA created the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, a close collaborator with the Institute, with the goal of achieving 100 percent renewable energy, 100 percent locally sourced water and enhanced ecosystem health for Los Angeles County by 2050.
Course Requirements
To encourage an open-ended, problem-driven focus in our student-focused program, requirements of the program are the following:
- Core Course: A two-quarter core sequence of “Issues and Methods in Environment and Sustainability”
- Six quarters of participation in advanced seminars on Environment and Sustainability.
- Electives – beyond the common requirements, each student will develop an individual program of study in consultation with their advisors and committee to master a range of disciplinary knowledge, skills and research methods.This avails the student of a vast depth of courses across campus.
Faculty Advisors
To promote interdisciplinarity as the core of the program’s identity, each student’s program of study and dissertation research will be guided by a major advisor, and a secondary advisor is recommended to then represent expertise from distinct areas of research and scholarship. We encourage prospective students to identify potential areas of study and contact prospective advisors before applying. You can research potential faculty advisors on our Faculty Advisor page.
Financial Support
It is our expectation that all students making satisfactory progress in the program will be fully funded for the duration of their studies. We will help you secure this funding through a variety of sources including faculty research grants, fellowships, teaching assistantships or other sources. UCLA provides substantial financial support to recruit outstanding students and ensure their success. Entering and continuing students may receive fellowships, traineeships and employment-based opportunities to support their studies and enhance their academic, research and training portfolios.
Why Choose the Ph.D. in Environment and Sustainability?
We aim to recruit and train students whose ambition and curiosity cannot be satisfied by a traditional disciplinary doctoral program.
Our program encourages students to innovate and tackle paramount environment and sustainability challenges by building expertise in two distinct disciplines. They learn two bodies of knowledge and two methods of inquiry and problem-solving, positioning them to advance novel insights and new areas of inquiry.
Diversity and Accessibility
UCLA maintains a deep commitment to diversity and accessibility. We embrace the principles of diversity and inclusion to understand, appreciate and respect differences in cultures and customs, religious beliefs, gender identity, sexual preferences and political points of view.
Studying in Los Angeles
Los Angeles and UCLA have the best of both worlds when it comes to studying the environment—lots of people and lots of nature, though you may not know it by reputation. When school is in session, UCLA effectively becomes a city of 80,000 people, nested in one of the world’s most diverse megacities. UCLA has a strong campus sustainability office and multiple initiatives, and the campus has beautiful grounds, a renowned botanical garden and a preserved native ecosystem reserve.
The population of greater L.A. is over 18 million, and we’re growing. LA is a complex place. The arts and culture of Los Angeles are world renowned, and at the same time there is a wealth of nature all around—25 percent of the county is dedicated parkland. Los Angeles has extraordinary open spaces from the mountains to the sea.
From the Santa Monica Mountains to the beaches of Malibu, Los Angeles is a case study in how an urban humanity interacts with nature. Water, food supply, energy, pollution, fire and environmental justice are all part of the picture.
Which program is right for me?
To which program should I apply, the Environmental Science and Engineering D. Env. or the Environment and Sustainability Ph.D.?
The UCLA Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IoES) has two doctoral programs, the Ph.D. in Environment and Sustainability and a professional D. Env. program in Environmental Science and Engineering. Both programs are interdisciplinary, both equip students with diverse perspectives to tackle pressing environmental issues, and both provide opportunities to interact with students and faculty across all the programs and projects of IoES, and more broadly across UCLA. If you are unsure which program is right for you, we are happy to discuss it with you – or to help you transfer your application between programs.
| Environment and Sustainability, Ph.D. | Environmental Science and Engineering, D. Env. |
|---|---|
| A research oriented program | A professionally oriented program – the only professional environmental doctorate in the nation. |
| Newly established, with the inaugural class starting in Fall 2018 | Established in 1973 with over 50 years of history |
| Emphasizes interdisciplinarity and innovation in research to understand paramount environment and sustainability challenges | Emphasizes interactions between science, engineering, public policy, economics, and law in the protection of the environment and public health. |
| Students are typically in residence through the entire program. | Students spend two years on campus completing courses, including an applied “Solutions Course” completed in the second year. |
| Students are able to have two advisors, from distinct disciplinary backgrounds. Students develop an individualized program of courses in consultation with their advisors, including core courses and additional courses that develop the foundation of knowledge and skills to support the student’s research aims, in their dissertation and their subsequent career. | The dissertation is completed off campus, typically in two years, while the student is in professional residence at an environmentally focused organization – a business, public agency, consulting firm, environmental group, or non-profit organization. |
| The program will prepare students for a wide range of academic and research careers, as well as careers in environment and sustainability in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. | Of the program’s over 260 alumni, about 90 percent are in non-academic careers in the public, private, or non-profit sectors. |