PhD in IR with Environmental Policy specialization

[HBro]

I am a 22 year old female with a degree in International Relations, minors in History and Global Studies. I went to a large, generic state school in Tennessee. My GPA is 3.8, I've studied abroad in Denmark, and interned with the Tennessee Environmental Council and the State Department in Washington D.C. This summer I will live in Brazil for three months to gain proficiency in Portuguese. Afterward, I will teach English in South Korea for one year. I hope to enter into grad school immediately after returning to the U.S., meaning Fall 2010.

As you can see, my background has prepared me to study IR in grad school. However, my specific interest resides in the EU, East Europe, and their current environment and energy policies. I am fascinated by the structure and function of the EU and how individual nation-states can work within an overarching structure to formulate trans-national environmental policies. Since I will be going to Brazil this summer, I aim to study Brazil's ethanol production and discover any benefits for the United States. Basically I am looking for programs in international relations that will allow me to specialize in energy and environmental policy. I have a limited science and math background so I don't see the more technical enviro programs accepting me, and I want to stick with IR as my overall concentration anyway. I am having some trouble finding these.

My career goals are to work for some time as a researcher for the government or for an NGO. However, my ultimate goal is to become a professor, which I would do immediately if possible.

Do you guys have any ideas?

[polisciphd]

You are going to have some trouble finding a school where people are doing exactly the kind of work you want to do, but that is not the issue, really. You need to be thinking of the big picture, so instead of looking for an environmental policy/IR program, look for an IR program that has strong faculty doing stuff on international institutions, or transnational issues in general. You may also want to think about schools were you can "skirt" the line between IR and comparative, which is where I perceive your research interests actually lie. Then, once you have two or so years of theory, methods, and specialized courses, you can take all of these "tools" and use them to study your particular interest.

This is similar to what I am doing at UIUC, there is not a single person here that does substantive work on East Asia, yet I am in IR and am going to write primarily on that region for my dissertation (granted, the idea can be applied to any sub-global system, I just happen to like east asia).

Hope this helps

[rising_star]

Colorado State leaps to mind due to its strength in environmental policy but I know nothing about their IR program. You may also want to look at Columbia.

[PeaceDoc]

I would second the note on Colorado State. They are in the minority of depts which really hammer home a single area of specialty; in their case, environmental politics. Surely there are individuals in the dept which would allow you to cut across fields. Cheers.

[flatcoat]

You don't say whether you want a PhD or a master's. When I reread your post, I got the feeling you may be thinking master's, some work experience, and then a PhD in order to become a professor. This is a good path (one I did myself). However, I can't advise on master's in the States as I did mine overseas. I just went through the PhD admissions process for IR/environmental policy, so the below is advice is in reference to that.

There are a lot of options for you, especially if you want to study energy policy. A little research should turn them up - I'd recommend checking out Harvard's Belfer and Columbia's SIPA to start. Also Duke's Nicholas School. Colorado State is good but I rejected it as not enough of an international focus for me. I'm in IR with a focus on water policy (my program started this summer and I'm currently overseas on an introductory research program in watershed management and international environmental law). Like the second poster said, you may need to cobble your program together yourself. I ended up accepting an offer from a school that has a somewhat strong focus on environmental issues in their poly sci department, but I was also awarded an NFS fellowship that has me doing work in the environmental policy center, which is in the engineering school. My degree will be in poly sci, but I will be doing cross-disciplinary work, which was my goal. I also have a very weak science and math background (more like no background), but I managed to get an NSF, so the opportunities are out there!

When you apply, best to focus on your goal of becoming a researcher at a university in your SOP and not saying you want to work for government/NGOs. Also, I would be wary of stating (in the SOP) that overseas experience has perpared you for grad work in IR. Nowadays it is quite common for applicants to have some overseas experience, especially of the study abroad and/or teaching English variety. If you can show that you have any substantive research experience, that will be better. You mention doing research in Brazil. Is this part of a formal program, and what will be the deliverable?

[HBro]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to send out a quick thanks to everyone for responding to my post. I just finished taking the GRE and I'm going tomorrow to talk to my professors about getting letters of recommendations. I haven't quite decided on what to do yet, but I'll let everyone know when I do. Thanks flatcoat for your advice in regards to the SOP and thanks tidefan for your advice to "skirt the line between IR and comparative."

Thanks again,

Hannah