Graduate Certificate Program in Industrial Ecology (PIE)

This 15 credit hour specialization certificate is designed to provide an interdisciplinary emphasis in industrial ecology and is available to graduate students from any graduate program at UM, or recent Master's graduates. CSS proposed this new Program in Industrial Ecology (PIE) and the School of Natural Resources and Environment, the School of Business Administration, the School of Public Health, the College of Engineering, and the School of Public Policy supported its establishment. Courses drawn from these units comprise the core curriculum.

Objectives of PIE:

• Enhance the education of graduate students in a range of relevant disciplines by providing them the fundamental skills and knowledge of industrial ecology methods and applications.
• Prepare graduate students to design and manage natural and industrial systems to meet human needs in an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable manner.
• Supplement the primary disciplinary focus with a more comprehensive approach to solving problems at the systems level

Core Courses Required for PIE: Five Courses Totaling 15 Credit Hours

• Industrial Ecology NRE 557/CEE 586

2. Environmental Policy and Strategies (one course from this section is required)

• Environmental Law NRE 475/EHS 588 or
• Law and Policy in Environmental Health EHS 503 or
• Natural Resources and Environmental Conflict Management NRE 532 or
• Institutions for Sustainability NRE 565 or
• Strategies for Environmental Management NRE 513/CSIB 564 & 565 or
• Strategies for Sustainable Manufacturing ME 599

3. Risk and Economic Analysis (one course from this section is required)

• Risk-Benefit Analysis in Environmental Engineering NRE 595/CEE 589 or
• Principles of Risk Assessment EHS 508 or
• Cost-Benefit Analysis PubPol 573 or
• Microeconomics with Natural Resource Application NRE 570 or
• Environmental Economics NRE 571

4. Energy Systems

• Sustainable Energy Systems NRE 574/PubPol 519

5. System Analysis and Sustainability (one course from this section is required)

• Systems Thinking for Sustainable Development and Enterprise NRE 550/CSIB 566 or
• Principles of Ecodesign and Manufacturing ME 599 or
• Biogeochemical Cycles AOSS 467 or
• Environmental Impact Assessment EHS 572/NRE 514

Other Relevant Graduate Courses

• School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE)
• College of Engineering
• School of Public Health
• Corporate Environmental Management Program (CEMP)

Faculty Liasons

Co-Directors and Co-Chair of PIE Executive Committee

Jonathan W. Bulkley
(SNRE / Civil and Environmental Engineering / CSS / IESET Fellow)
Specialty: Multi-Objective Planning and Risk Analysis

Gregory A. Keoleian
(SNRE / CSS / IESET Associate Professor)
Specialty: Industrial Ecology

College of Engineering

Arvind Atreya
(Mechanical Engineering / IESET Fellow);
Specialty: Energy Technology

Mary Anne Carroll
(Atmospheric Oceanic and Space Sciences / IESET Fellow);
Specialty: Atmospheric Chemistry

Henry Wang
(Chemical Engineering / IESET Fellow);
Specialty: Biotechnology, Sustainable Technologies

School of Public Health

Stuart Batterman
(Environmental and Industrial Health):
Specialty: Environmental Impact Assessment

Business School

Thomas Gladwin
(Corporate Environmental Management Program; Erb Institute);
Specialty: Sustainable Enterprise

College of Literature, Science and the Arts

Marc Ross
(Physics)
Specialty: Automotive Emissions and Energy Efficiency

College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Jonathan Levine
(Urban Planning)
Specialty: Transportation Planning

Admissions Process

Applicants should demonstrate analytic and problem-solving skills through either (a) formal college-level courses of study in biological sciences, physical sciences, engineering or other relevant areas or (b) relevant professional experience following the bachelor's degree.

To apply, submit an application (see below), one page Statement of Interest, and a current resume to the SNRE Graduate Admissions Office:

School of Natural Resources and Environment
Graduate Admissions
1520 Dana
430 E. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115

The application form will vary depending on the applicant's current educational status in the University. Visit the Rackham Graduate Student Handbook for more information.

Applicants will need the following information to complete their application:

• Program of Application: Industrial Ecology
• Numeric Code: 01584
• Plan (Subplan): 4720 CGR
• Program Level: Certificate

Admission decisions will be based upon a review of all information in the student's application package.

Please note that CSS is a technical advisor of the PIE Certificate, and all academic or administrative questions regarding the Certificate should be directed to the School of Natural Resources Office of Academic Programs.

Credit Requirements

The PIE requires the student to take at least five core courses that total at least 15 credit hours. With appropriate planning, double counting of up to six credit hours reduces the additional core course requirements to nine (9) credit hours, which may require the equivalent of one additional term of course work.

Admission procedure, program requirements, and sample programs vary depending on into which School within the University a student has matriculated. The certificate program is considered a Rackham Graduate Certificate, which determines certificate program requirements. The Rackham Graduate Student Handbook discusses how credits can be counted, and other procedural limitations for the certificate program (see Chapter 7).

Please note that the credits for the certificate must be in addition to the credit requirements for the student's current program. For example, completion of the Master's in SNRE requires 36 credit hours. Completion of PIE would require 15 credits in addition to these 36 credits. Up to 6 credits can double-count and several courses can satisfy the spirit of many distribution requirements, but beyond the 6 hour allowance, the remaining credits cannot be double-counted for credit requirements for both PIE and SNRE.