Science and technology are having an increasing influence on modern society and the natural environment is increasingly stressed by human activities. How scientific information is framed can have a large influence on technical and environmental policy development and implementation. This course presents a set of basic methods and tools for analyzing technical policy issues with an emphasis on environmental issues. Topics include: order-of-magnitude estimation; modeling for policy evaluation; risk assessment and risk communication; and analysis of science assessments for policy makers on long-range transport of air pollution, stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change.

The goal of this course is to improve the students’ ability, confidence and judgment in the use of science in policy applications. The course is intended both for students with significant technical training as well as for those with primarily a policy focus but with an interest in better understanding how science can be effectively used to inform policy making. Students should leave the course with an increased understanding of how technical information can be used to inform the policy process, an ability to ask questions necessary to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate claims, and the confidence to do so.