Search the Community

Letter of Intent I appreciate this opportunity to provide further background information in support of my application for Environmental Economics PhD Program in XXX. I believe that my educational background, work experience and deep interest in the chosen field of study make me a very good candidate for the program. I am very passionate about academics and research, and am also passionate about impacting society both near and far. As long as I remember myself I have always known that I want to study Economics and to be more specific its facets that concern Environmental issues. As a child I used to wait for the festival of lights, Diwali to come. We celebrate this festival with lots of sweets, lamps and new clothes. With time the way we celebrate the festival and for that matter any good occasion has changed. The celebration of this festival is considered incomplete without the use of plenty of firecrackers. Firecrackers primarily contain sulphur, carbon, added chemicals, barium nitrate, aluminium, copper, lithium and strontium. When these firecrackers are lit, these chemicals are released into the air, reducing air quality drastically. To make matters worse, Diwali usually takes place in October or November when many cities in northern India face fog. The gases released from the firecrackers are trapped in this fog and increase the level of pollution exponentially. The levels of pollution in the air rise astronomically during these days. During my growing years I wondered where did the polluted air go or is there a natural sink provided by mother earth. There were many unanswered questions which motivated me to read more on the subject. My eagerness to know more about the ecosystem, climate and natural resources led me to my master’s programme in Indian Institute of Forest Management. I consider myself fortunate to have trained under the guidance of highly experienced and prominent faculty Dr. Madhu Verma on Ecological Economics and Environmental Valuation. It exposed me to the harsh reality of what is at stake. We need to understand that there is an intimate connection between the economics of development and the cost of environment conservation. Heartening to see that Ecosystem Services fall outside the present configuration of markets, they remain un-priced, un-owned and unaccounted in economic terms. My graduate coursework provided me theoretical knowledge including economic models: methods, theory and application of tools used by companies in their holistic approach of life cycle assesment. The classes enriched my understanding of the actors' of environment conservation and sustainable development such as the government, organization and community. During this time I realized that our environment is slowly heading to the point of no return, and unless we do something about it. I gained insight into the environmental impacts of the future climate change and the economic repercussions it would follow. As part of the course curriculum I conducted a survey to understand the relationship between poverty and environmentalism by analyzing the responses of poor to their imminent neighbourhood environmental issues. It is during such visit that I realised the importance of creating awareness, inclusive growth, sustainable development and minimum emissions with minimal impact to environment. During my years in college, I have given talks on topics like Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, Silent Spring, Towards a Green Economy – Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, Forest carbon index and The BASF Eco-Efficiency Life Cycle Tool. During my study and field experience, I realized the importance of data analysis and number crunching, because we cannot control what we cannot measure. I felt that before going further on the way of academic research, it would be useful to get some experience on data analytics. Desire to learn analytics to support my research along with knowledge of environment and economy, landed me a job in one of the leading Microfinance Institute in bangalore. After completing my masters program, I joined the company where I am working as Market Risk Analyst. Working here has increased my ability to research, analyze and present key components for management's decision making process. My work typically involves qualitative analysis on the market risk and the liquidity risk of the firm. Some of my duties include data analysis, automation of reports, predictive modelling, presentations and sharing insights with the management team. During my free time I work on freely available environment related datasets to analyse and build model. I wish to use my data analysis skills to analyse the available data and build an efficient model that would give insight to environment problems and the solution that can have greater impact. I seek to contribute to the topic of climate reporting by answering key questions regarding the status quo of international climate change reporting regimes; comparing mandatory versus voluntary disclosure schemes and effect on reducing CO2 emissions; and analyzing investors' reaction to climate-related disclosures. Research at will reinforce my knowledge on environmental economics and put these concepts in practice to achieve . We have lots of data available on the change in land use pattern, carbon emission over years, change in forest cover over years, climate change over years and many related fields. To make an informed policy decision, we need to analyse these data, understand the future impact of the business-as-usual model and corrective measure to reduce these negative impact. I like to think myself as an adventure seeking enthusiastic person who is capable to rise up to any challenge. I have variety of interests which include painting, travelling, trekking and running. I now wish to continue my academic career with a PhD in Economics, and I cannot image a better place to perform my research than in the department of economics at the XXX of Economics. The prospect of studying and learning in XXX University which has a great blend of faculty and students from all over the world excites me. I realize the highly competitive demands of the program I am applying to and believe that my drive and passion for Environmental Studies will help me to excel in my future research. Thank You very much for considering my application and for your time!

Letter of Intent I appreciate this opportunity to provide further background information in support of my application for Environmental Economics PhD Program in XXX. I believe that my educational background, work experience and deep interest in the chosen field of study make me a very good candidate for the program. I am very passionate about academics and research, and am also passionate about impacting society both near and far. As long as I remember myself I have always known that I want to study Economics and to be more specific its facets that concern Environmental issues. As a child I used to wait for the festival of lights, Diwali to come. We celebrate this festival with lots of sweets, lamps and new clothes. With time the way we celebrate the festival and for that matter any good occasion has changed. The celebration of this festival is considered incomplete without the use of plenty of firecrackers. Firecrackers primarily contain sulphur, carbon, added chemicals, barium nitrate, aluminium, copper, lithium and strontium. When these firecrackers are lit, these chemicals are released into the air, reducing air quality drastically. To make matters worse, Diwali usually takes place in October or November when many cities in northern India face fog. The gases released from the firecrackers are trapped in this fog and increase the level of pollution exponentially. The levels of pollution in the air rise astronomically during these days. During my growing years I wondered where did the polluted air go or is there a natural sink provided by mother earth. There were many unanswered questions which motivated me to read more on the subject. My eagerness to know more about the ecosystem, climate and natural resources led me to my master’s programme in Indian Institute of Forest Management. I consider myself fortunate to have trained under the guidance of highly experienced and prominent faculty Dr. Madhu Verma on Ecological Economics and Environmental Valuation. It exposed me to the harsh reality of what is at stake. We need to understand that there is an intimate connection between the economics of development and the cost of environment conservation. Heartening to see that Ecosystem Services fall outside the present configuration of markets, they remain un-priced, un-owned and unaccounted in economic terms. My graduate coursework provided me theoretical knowledge including economic models: methods, theory and application of tools used by companies in their holistic approach of life cycle assesment. The classes enriched my understanding of the actors' of environment conservation and sustainable development such as the government, organization and community. During this time I realized that our environment is slowly heading to the point of no return, and unless we do something about it. I gained insight into the environmental impacts of the future climate change and the economic repercussions it would follow. As part of the course curriculum I conducted a survey to understand the relationship between poverty and environmentalism by analyzing the responses of poor to their imminent neighbourhood environmental issues. It is during such visit that I realised the importance of creating awareness, inclusive growth, sustainable development and minimum emissions with minimal impact to environment. During my years in college, I have given talks on topics like Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, Silent Spring, Towards a Green Economy – Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, Forest carbon index and The BASF Eco-Efficiency Life Cycle Tool. During my study and field experience, I realized the importance of data analysis and number crunching, because we cannot control what we cannot measure. I felt that before going further on the way of academic research, it would be useful to get some experience on data analytics. Desire to learn analytics to support my research along with knowledge of environment and economy, landed me a job in one of the leading Microfinance Institute in bangalore. After completing my masters program, I joined the company where I am working as Market Risk Analyst. Working here has increased my ability to research, analyze and present key components for management's decision making process. My work typically involves qualitative analysis on the market risk and the liquidity risk of the firm. Some of my duties include data analysis, automation of reports, predictive modelling, presentations and sharing insights with the management team. During my free time I work on freely available environment related datasets to analyse and build model. I wish to use my data analysis skills to analyse the available data and build an efficient model that would give insight to environment problems and the solution that can have greater impact. I seek to contribute to the topic of climate reporting by answering key questions regarding the status quo of international climate change reporting regimes; comparing mandatory versus voluntary disclosure schemes and effect on reducing CO2 emissions; and analyzing investors' reaction to climate-related disclosures. Research at will reinforce my knowledge on environmental economics and put these concepts in practice to achieve . We have lots of data available on the change in land use pattern, carbon emission over years, change in forest cover over years, climate change over years and many related fields. To make an informed policy decision, we need to analyse these data, understand the future impact of the business-as-usual model and corrective measure to reduce these negative impact. I like to think myself as an adventure seeking enthusiastic person who is capable to rise up to any challenge. I have variety of interests which include painting, travelling, trekking and running. I now wish to continue my academic career with a PhD in Economics, and I cannot image a better place to perform my research than in the department of economics at the XXX of Economics. The prospect of studying and learning in XXX University which has a great blend of faculty and students from all over the world excites me. I realize the highly competitive demands of the program I am applying to and believe that my drive and passion for Environmental Studies will help me to excel in my future research. Thank You very much for considering my application and for your time!

People in communities can make decisions that protect and improve the natural environment. Which ONE of the following three actions is MOST useful for people to do if they want to help the environment in their local community? Why? 1. Plant trees and create parks 2. Persuade local shops to stop providing plastic bags to customers 3. Increase access to public transportation (for example, buses or trains) to reduce the number of automobiles on local roads Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. The environmental issues are becoming more severe. Everyone living in this earth has a responsibility to protect our natural world. There are some choices for us to make a difference. As far as I am concerned, I would like to persuade shops to stop providing plastic bags to customers as the most effective way to contribute to environmental protection. To begin with, according to some statistics, an estimate of the number of plastic bags that are consumed every year can be 500 billion. This poses huge negative effect on land, ocean, rivers and lakes. Unlike items that biodegrade in a short time, plastic bags take hundred years to decompose, some even take 1000 years to decompose. Most of these bags actually end up in landfills and sit there for hundreds of years. This means there are hundreds of animals and birds who are at risk of injury and death by ingesting or being entangled in plastic bag flotsam. Plastic bags also pose health risks to human populations over the years as they leach toxins into water supplies. If we want to protect our environment, the simplest and most effective way is to stop using plastic bags in daily life. It also makes me feel obliged to persuade local shops to cease providing plastic bags to customers. Only when we start to make a difference in our own community, we can spread the idea to the whole city and to the whole nation and to the whole world. After all, we all only have an earth to live and we all have responsibilities to protect our earth. Second, although planting trees and creating parks in the community can also contribute the protection of the environment, they are not as convenient as persuading shop owner to stop providing plastic bags as a way to help our environment. First of all, planting trees needs a fund to buy saplings to grow and pay for maintenance of these saplings and creating parks needs pieces of land to build up, which is by no means easy. Without these premises, we cannot achieve our goal. On the other hand, we only need to raise the awareness of how plastic bags can negatively impact the environment in the community and provide some incentives such as labeling as “green” to shop owners who are willing to stop providing plastics bags, which can also be advertising as a positive image of them. Thus, no shop owners cannot be appealing to do so. In addition, we also need to think in a broad way to protect the environment – that is it is not only good for our community, but also it is good for the whole world. Comparing to increasing access to public transportation to reduce the number of automobiles on local road, persuading local shops to stop providing plastic bags will have a profound influence to send out the message that since plastic bags bring huge negative impact to our environment and we are imperative to stop using them that can make a huge difference for ourselves, especially for our next generations. A single step in our community, a big step on the whole planet. To conclusion, for the reasons I mentioned above, I choose to persuade local shops to stop providing plastic bags as the most useful way to protect our environment.

Title: Human Rights and the Environment: Synergies and Challenges Period: 21-23 November 2013 Summary: The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) is organising a seminar, with the patronage and collaboration of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Union (EU), which will analyse human rights from an environmental perspective, with a new multi-disciplinary approach that underpins the notion that the right to a healthy environment is just as basic as other rights. The methodology of the seminar includes lectures, discussions, working groups and case studies. Issues about human rights and the environment will be analysed in the context of sustainable development by identifying links and challenges which shall be faced to implement a rights-based approach to the environmental protection. As well as consideration of international human rights law, there will also be an examination of the relationship of the law of armed conflict with the environment, and questions of transitional justice. Location: European Inter University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation, Venice-Lido, Italy Speakers: The faculty is composed of academics and practitioners actively involved in the field of human rights and well-known ecologists specialised in environmental policies and conservation issues. Representatives of the UNEP, the OHCHR, the EU and the World Bank, together with NGO experts and scholars will present and discuss the seminar topics from different perspectives . Participants: The seminar, held in English, is principally targeted on officials from national and international organisations, NGO experts, decision makers and policy makers wishing to better understand how to integrate human rights and environmental issues in their daily work. The course is moreover addressed to postgraduate students and alumni of former educational programmes organised under the EIUC umbrella willing to deepen their knowledge in this field. To apply visit: Education > EIUC Training Seminars > HRE > Applications - EIUC For more information please visit: Education > EIUC Training Seminars > HRE - EIUC For further enquiries please contact us at: training.hre@eiuc.org

I am a masters in Economics that will be graduating this December. I will be apply for schools for starting PHD programs for fall 2012. However, I wouldn't mind if I could go ahead and start the PHD program in the Spring of 2012. Does anyone know of any mid-range PHD that are known for Environmental Economics that allow for students to start in the Spring semester? I have read schools that explicitly do not allow it or discourage it.

Hi all, any thoughts on the ERNEA master at Toulouse? How does it rank compared to others on Environment and Natural Resources? What about continuing to a PhD with the ERNEA? Which professors at TSE are worth looking at? Thanks, bml