The Education Program aims to collaborate with MIT and the broader community to assess, innovate, and expand climate education across all disciplinary and institutional contexts. This program also houses the environment and sustainability (E&S) minor; conducts research on climate and environmental education; hosts events and workshops; and engages in curricular, faculty, and course development.

Studying the environment and sustainability is a hands-on, interdisciplinary, and cutting-edge experience at MIT. On campus, our academic offerings are designed for students to learn alongside world experts, and coursework relates to real problems facing the planet.  Starting in an undergraduate’s first year and throughout a graduate’s career, the impact of an MIT education in the environment and sustainability can be felt worldwide.

Several key areas include:

There are options for students to explore the environment and sustainability for all four years and during summers, on campus and around the world. Undergraduate research, academic subjects, student life programs, and even physical education give every student the opportunity to see environmental systems in a completely new way.

Degrees in the environment and sustainability: Students in every school and degree program at MIT have the option to study the environment and sustainability, either through their major or a minor. Learn about degree programs.

Opportunities for incoming first years: First year students can join the Terrascope Learning Community, a program that offers advising, classes, and activities that take a student-led approach toward environmental problem-solving. Learn about Terrascope.

Classes for enrolled MIT students: There are dozens of classes at MIT that address some aspect of sustainability and offer students a chance to explore challenges and solutions for protecting the environment. Learn about the classes in our environment and sustainability minor.

Contact

Chris Rabe, Education Program Director (cjrabe@mit.edu)

Recent Publications

From Mining to E-waste: The Environmental and Climate Justice Implications of the Electronics Hardware Life Cycle (MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, Sept. 11, 2024)

Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy (Springer Nature, July 24, 2024)

Science, Technology, and Environmental Justice: Addressing MIT’s Imperative of Justice in the Classroom (MIT ESI, Feb. 22, 2024)