Climate and Sustainability Major

The Climate and Sustainability major is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES) in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development (UPSD) in the Columbia Climate School. It is open to all students in Columbia College and the School of General Studies.

The Climate and Sustainability major is designed for students who are interested in an interdisciplinary educational experience focused on the intersection of the climate crisis and sustainability. The program balances depth in climate science courses with depth in the social science and interdisciplinary subjects that address the social, economic, and justice dimensions of the climate crisis. Students take classes on the climate system, earth history, climate adaptation and mitigation while also learning about climate policy, law, and justice. The major prepares students for the widely expanding climate job market in areas that include finance, insurance, urban design, and sustainability management as well as for professional degrees in law, business, and policy.

A minimum of 15 courses and a practicum (for a total of approximately 47 points) are required to complete the major. Students take courses within the following framework:

I. Climate and Sustainability Foundation
II. Basic Disciplinary Foundation 
III. Climate and Sustainability: Complexities and Analyses
IV. Electives
V. Practicum
VI. Capstone Workshop

A letter grade of C- or better is needed in all program related courses in order to satisfy the requirements for the major. P/F grades are only permitted in SDEV 3998.

For course descriptions and scheduling, please consult the Bulletin. 

Climate and Sustainability Major Requirements Table

SDEV 2300 Challenges of Sustainable Development (required) 
EESC 2330 Science for Sustainable Development (required) 

  • The program recommends that students take SDEV 2300 and EESC 2330 prior to completing the remaining program requirements.
  • No course substitutions will be permitted for SDEV 2300 and EESC 2330.
A. Two natural science courses 

EESC 2100 Earth’s Environmental Systems: The Climate System, plus one of the following:

EESC 1201 Environmental Risks and Disasters
EESC 1600 Earth Resources and Sustainable Development
EESC 2200 Earth’s Environment Systems: Solid Earth
EESC 2300 Earth’s Environment Systems: Life


B. Two social science courses:

Introduction to Climate Justice (TBD), plus one of the following:

ECON 1105 Principles of Economics
POLS 1601 International Politics
SDEV 2000 Introduction to Environmental Law
SDEV 2050 Environmental Policy and Governance
ANTH 2427 Anthropology of Climate Change
SDEV 3400 Human Populations and Sustainable Development


C. One of the following quantitative foundations courses:

STAT 1201 Calculus-Based Introduction to Statistics
MATH 2010 Linear Algebra
EEEB 3005 Introduction to Statistics for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
EESC 3017 Environmental Data Analysis
Quantitative Methods for Climate and Sustainability (TBD)

Note: Taking Introduction to Statistics and Calculus separately will not fulfill the quantitative requirement.

A. Two courses from the following:

SDEV 3355 Climate Change and Law
SDEV 3366 Energy Law
SDEV 4250 Climate Change Adaptation
ANTH 3861 Anthropology of the Anthropocene
ANTH 3932 Climate Change, Global Migration, and Human Rights in the Anthropocene
POLS 4811 Global Energy: Security/Geopolitics
EESC 4235 Sea Level Change*
EAEE 4304 Closing the Carbon Cycle
Climate Change Mitigation (TBD)

B. Choose one course from the following list of natural science courses:

EESC 4220 Glaciology*
EESC 4926 Chemical Oceanography*
EESC 4923 Biological Oceanography*
EESC 4925 Physical Oceanography*
EESC 4835 Wetlands & Climate*
EESC 4330 Terrestrial Paleoclimate
EESC 4920 Paleoceanography*
EESC 4937 Cenozoic Paleoceanography
EESC 4235 Sea Level Change*
EAEE 4304 Closing the Carbon Cycle

C. Choose one course from the following list of social science courses:

ANTH 3932 Climate Change, Global Migration, and Human Rights in the Anthropocene
ANTH 3861 Anthropology of the Anthropocene
SDEV 3355 Climate Change and Law
SDEV 3366 Energy Law
SDEV 4050 US Water and Energy Policy
SDEV 4240 Science Communications
ECON 3039 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
POLS 4811 Global Energy: Security/Geopolitics

*May require pre-requisites beyond what is required for this major.

Select two courses from the following areas. If you select Area 1, you must complete two thesis courses and these will fulfill the elective requirement:

Area 1: Senior Thesis Sequence (EESC 3800/3801, EESC 3901)

Area 2: Additional courses listed under the Climate and Sustainability: Complexities and Analysis requirement

Area 3: Additional quantitative or qualitative methods or skills courses from the following list:

STAT 2103 Applied Linear Regression Analysis
STAT 3105 Applied Statistical Methods
STAT 3106 Applied Data Mining
STAT 4203 Probability Theory
STAT 4204 Statistical Inference
STAT 4207 Elementary Stochastic Processes
STAT 4205 Linear Regression Models
EAEE 4257 Environmental Data Analysis and Modeling
EESC 3050 Big Data with Python
SDEV 3390 GIS for Sustainable Development
SDEV 3450 Spatial Analysis and Modeling for Sustainable Development
SDEV 4101 Qualitative Research Methods for Sustainable Development

Choose one course:

SDEV 3998 Supervised Individual Research
SDEV 4500 Sustainability and the Meaning of Place on Cuttyhunk Island
SDEV 4550 The New York City Watershed: From Community Displacement to Collaboration and Climate Adaptation
SUMA 4734 Earth Institute Practicum 

Choose one course:

SDEV 3280 Workshop in Sustainable Development
SDEV 3550 Bangladesh Workshop
SDEV 4400 Sustainable Development in Rwanda

  • SDEV 3550 and SDEV 4400 will be offered next in Spring 2025.