Requirements for APT students are consistent with the requirements for a PhD within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (view requirements). For APT students with significant engineering deficiencies, an Engineering Science PhD degree is possible (more). Please contact us for more information and to discuss this option.

The Policy seminar series will consist of speakers from across the nation who are experts within the environmental policy community. The speakers will be invited to give a talk on policy relevant topics to the entire WSU campus community through the WSU Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach (CEREO). In addition, the speakers will provide a workshop specifically for the APT students in order to allow direct interaction between the speaker and students. During the workshop, the speaker will discuss in detail both their specific expertise and topics of broader interest to the scientific and policy communities, including topics related to career development for young scientists and engineers. The goal of the seminar series is to ensure that APT students are exposed to and continue to consider the policy implications of their research throughout their course of study.

APT students will be required to enroll in two environmental policy courses, in addition to the required engineering course load. The first course (System Dynamics Models of Environmental Systems, taught by Dr. Andy Ford) is designed to develop understanding and proficiency in the use of computer simulation models to understand the dynamic behavior of environmental systems. Systems concepts (such as information feedback and homeostasis) are useful in wide variety of fields including hydrology, ecology, anthropology, economics, engineering, business, planning, physiology, sociology, etc. Case studies from many of these fields will demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary models, models that reach across disciplinary boundaries to simulate the key feedbacks in the system. This course will help build the foundation for the second environmental policy course and the subsequent policy internship.
     The second environmental policy course required is a quantitative environmental policy analysis course. This course combines LAR's existing expertise in atmospheric modeling with an added expertise in air quality management strategies.  The purpose of such a course is to provide a more quantitative understanding of the linkage between energy emissions and energy policy and consequences for local and global air quality.  The centerpiece of this course are modeling tools to facilitate the quantitative exploration of policy implications of the interactions between air quality and: energy, public lands biomass burning, the built environment, human health, the natural environment, and climate.

The opportunity to travel to conferences and develop collegial relationships with the professional community is a key motivator for early career graduate students, one that helps them discover where their work fits within the greater context of environmental science and policy. Attending conferences is also an important experiential component of graduate education where communication skills and networking skills are developed. APT students will have the opportunity to attend one scientific conference per year during their tenure as a graduate student.

The internship will be the key capstone experience for APT students. Senior level APT students committed to making quantitative environmental policy analysis a focus of their professional career, will have the financial support to participate in a policy internship opportunity with either a government agency, a nonprofit organization, or a company of their choice. Internships will last approximately four months, during which time APT students will devote their entire effort toward the completion of a policy-themed project under the mentorship of their chosen organization. The results of the project will be included as a chapter in their dissertation. Topical areas that are prime for internship opportunities are those where atmospheric chemistry affects issues of primary concern: energy, public lands biomass burning, the built environment, human health, the natural environment, and climate change. Examples of policy internships include national and regional offices of the EPA and USDA Forest Service, state environmental agencies, national industrial policy and/or trade groups, and corporations, among others.