The Master of Climate Solutions (MCS) Experience
Centered on positive change and practical action.
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Organizations, cities, and states around the world are charting paths to quantify and curtail their carbon emissions and uncovering business avenues within climate solutions. In addition to focusing on reducing their environmental impact, they are proactively crafting robust policies and strategic plans that hinge on the intertwining of environmental stewardship and economic opportunity. They need graduates of the Master of Climate Solutions (MCS) program at the University of California, Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources.
Upon graduation, you will be poised to forge impactful climate solutions in varied contexts. Your potential paths include assisting a company in devising internal incentives to curtail its carbon emissions, crafting a resilient climate adaptation plan for a local government, assisting a transportation company pivot towards cleaner operations, rallying for climate-friendly legislation, or sculpting a business plan that propels a green entrepreneur’s product to market.
Simply put, you will be a sought-after climate solutions specialist—and a change architect who will directly benefit the organization and the global community.
MCS: Turning Potential into Progress
The Master of Climate Solutions (MCS) is designed, not to teach you to become a scientist who develops a new energy source or advances material science, but to enable you to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, the potential and the risks, of such a new tool. The program is built to give you the skills and experiences you need to conduct this evaluation in a streamlined manner.
Curriculum
Core Courses
16 units
Thematic courses cover essential topics within the natural and social sciences related to climate.
- Climate Science & Impacts
- Economic Insights for Climate Solutions
- Climate and Energy Policy & Politics
- Technological & Nature-Based Solutions
- Business Solutions & Industry pathways
Two analytical skills courses cover particular methods and tools essential for careers in climate.
- Data Sciences
- Carbon Accounting & Lifecycle Analysis
One course equips students with the skills and knowledge to enable innovative climate solutions at both organizational and societal levels (e.g., theory of change, strategic planning, organizational theory, multi-stakeholder processes, consensus building, problem solving).
- Organizational, Political, and Societal Change for Climate Solutions
Electives
Minimum 6 units
Students may choose from MCS electives, as well as from a curated list of courses offered by UC Berkeley’s departments of Agricultural & Resource Economics; Energy and Resources; and Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.
Colloquium
2 units
One yearlong colloquium features a series of guest speakers, excursions, applied exercises, and professional skills workshops.
Capstone
5 units
A two-semester capstone experience affords you an opportunity to apply your knowledge and skills to a real-world project. To choose your project and find a partner organization, you’ll work closely with our Climate Solutions Accelerator—a platform that connects MCS students, faculty, and partner organizations across business, government, and non-profit sectors.
Examples of capstone projects include:
- Evaluate carbon offset claims by service providers and recommend the best option to a partner company
- Work with a coalition of environmental groups and clean energy companies to develop a policy proposal for scaling energy storage in California’s power grid
- Work with a company to develop a cost-effective process to measure and reduce Scope 3 emissions
- Develop policy and political strategies for local and state governments and other stakeholders to incentivize soil management practices that promote carbon sequestration
Featured Highlights
Scholarships
Rausser College of Natural Resources champions diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all we do. Prioritizing access to impactful education for those in financial need is fundamental to our mission. Click below to sign up for our mailing list, or visit our FAQ to learn more.
Find Out MoreScholarships
All MCS students are considered for partial to full scholarships. Additionally, we partner with the UC Berkeley Center for African Studies in their participation of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, for those who are eligible.
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