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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 9, 2009

No shortage of sustainability courses as green job market blooms

By Andrea Kay

If the growing number of schools offering courses in sustainability and environmental issues is any indication, the market for green jobs is looking rosy. In this, my last installment of a three-part series on green jobs, here's a snapshot — and I do mean snapshot — of programs and places to get educated on how green technology comes together with business and where graduates find jobs.

First, it's not just Ivy League business schools. Universities and colleges from California to Maine, small liberal arts colleges in Ohio, European schools and online institutions now offer courses, green MBAs, diplomas and certificates. And it's growing.

Having said that, I'll point out the survey Beyond Grey Pinstripes, conducted by The Aspen Institute, which ranks the top 100 schools with full-time MBA programs in terms of course content and faculty research in social and environmental stewardship. Their top three U.S. picks are Stanford University, the University of Michigan and the University of California Berkeley. Top European schools are Instituto de Empresa; Esade Business School; and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.

The Center for Sustainable Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School was ranked highly by The Wall Street Journal. The center offers an incubator program and has an active Net Impact club, a global network of MBA students taking the lead in social entrepreneurship and sustainability.

There are also smaller schools, such as Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich., which has an undergraduate program in sustainable business. The College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, offers one major: human ecology. With just 300 students, the school boasts such graduates as presidents of Common Cause and Newman's Own Organics and molecular geneticists, public policy experts, teachers and social workers. One alum assesses Starbucks' agricultural programs in Central America.

At the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan, students working on green MBA degrees or an MBA/master's degree in natural resources and the environment work with faculty whose research includes sustainable urban planning in India, clean manufacturing practices in China and green supply chain issues in Mexico.

Their graduates have found corporate social responsibility positions at Alcoa, GE, Deloitte Consulting, Duke Energy, Boeing and Piper Jaffray, as well as government agencies and nongovernmental organizations like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and World Bank.

"We also see a lot of jobs come from traditional and startup investment companies looking for experts in socially responsible investing," says Rick Bunch, managing director at the Erb Institute.

Four universities in Ohio — University of Dayton, Wright State University, Central State University and the Air Force Institute of Technology — are collaborating to offer a master's degree program in renewable energy.

If you're still trying to understand how you fit into the green-job landscape, check out http://www.Greenbiz.com for conferences, books and information on how businesses incorporate green operations, business strategies, marketing communications and design.

The site also lists green positions with employers who focus on green, clean-tech and sustainable business practices. Yes, some jobs are for engineers, but the list also includes: seasonal interpreter for a zoo and aquarium, public relations intern for a "conscious PR and marketing firm," global product manager with a passion for solar, and a Western states climate economist.

Like the green movement overall, education is evolving with schools beefing up and incorporating sustainable practices into mainstream subjects. Get this knowledge under your belt and you'll add much value to big companies, startups and government organizations looking to a new generation of leaders who understand the principles of sustainability.