Bachelor’s in Energy, Climate, and the Environment
Why pursue a bachelor's degree within Energy, Climate, and the Environment (ENCE)?
The challenges of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss are, at their root, driven by the world's growing demand for energy. Solving them will take more than any single discipline can offer. A degree in Energy, Climate, and the Environment (ENCE) prepares you to be part of that solution, whether your path leads to inventing low-carbon technologies, shaping the policies and markets that drive decarbonization, protecting ecosystems and public health from climate impacts, or reimagining how humanity relates to the planet through the arts, ethics, and culture. Because ENCE spans the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the FAS Divisions of Arts & Humanities, Social Science, and Science, you'll build deep expertise in one specialized track while also gaining the literacy and collaborative skills to work fluently with people trained in the other fields. The Tracks within the ENCE program are:
- Science and Engineering for Sustainable Solutions
- Nature, Ethics, and the Human Imagination
- Markets, Politics, and Societies
- Climate and Biodiversity
This cross-disciplinary approach matters because real-world solutions rarely respect disciplinary boundaries: for example, scientists and engineers designing the next generation of clean-energy technologies need to understand markets and social impact, and policymakers need to understand the science behind the technologies they're regulating. ENCE is built around that insight from day one, with a shared introductory course, ENCE 10, and a team-based senior capstone class, ENCE 100, bookending your specialized coursework, so you graduate not just as an expert in your chosen area, but as someone genuinely prepared to lead alongside people who think differently than you do.
Students interested in pursuing the SEAS-based Track on Science and Engineering for Sustainable Solutions within Energy, Climate, and the Environment pick the following concentration option:
ENCE - SESS Track Braids
Each student declaring the ENCE-SESS Track selects one of the following Braids as a central theme of their study:
- Energy Systems Braid: The focus is on the complex systems that are associated with decarbonization and electrification of the energy, chemical manufacturing, and transport sectors. Students gain an end-to-end understanding of energy sources, energy storage, energy grid infrastructure, and end use. Topics include non-fossil energy sources, battery technology and materials, optimization of the electrical grid with use of remote sensing and AI, and climate modeling for long-term planning of the energy system. Aspects of energy markets are also covered. Decarbonization of industrial chemical manufacturing, such as ammonia, cement, and steel production, is a core topic, and students will learn about carbon capture with conversion to high value products, including green fuels. These aspects involve identification and discovery of chemical routes that are driven by renewable electricity, in particular with the use of electrochemistry.
- Sustainable Computing Braid: The focus is on reducing the energy needs, effects on electrical-grid stability, and environmental impacts of state-of-the-art computing systems, e.g., datacenters running Artificial Intelligence applications. Computing systems are analyzed across their entire lifetime, including the manufacturing stage as well as the operational stage. Students will gain an end-to-end understanding of how computing systems are designed, fabricated, and operated, and topics include fundamentals of semiconductor materials selection, circuit analysis, design and fabrication of very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits and systems, power delivery, computer architecture, data center networks, AI algorithms, and the associated influence on the electric grid and the environment. Students will gain the skills needed for designing future computing systems that are optimized from the perspectives of both conventional compute performance metrics and electric-grid and environmental impacts.
- Climate and Environmnetal Systems and Modeling Braid: The focus is on understanding natural environmental systems and the human impacts of energy consumption, industrial processes and manufacturing, as well as the effect of environmental mitigation efforts. Students will explore the design of environmental monitoring technology and modeling methods that blend physical and AI approaches, including for statistical risk analysis and disaster prediction. Students will learn how to quantitatively relate mitigation action to outcomes ranging from climate to public health, and they will examine and analyze a range of climate solutions, including energy-decarbonization efforts, carbon capture, and solar geoengineering. Students will learn to integrate information from multiple observational data streams into analytical frameworks to advance understanding, and examples of student work are the design of a satellite system for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and the quantification of source-receptor linkages for persistent pollutants.
Prerequisites for ENCE - SESS
Learn about the prerequisites for the Science and Engineering for Sustainable Solutions Track of the Energy, Climate, and the Environment concentration on our First Year Exploration page. Students interested in concentrating in ENCE - SESS can be matched with a Peer Concentration Advisor.
Research Opportunities
Opportunities for undergraduates to conduct research in Energy, Climate, and the Environment abound. As part of your coursework, or perhaps as part of individual research opportunities working with professors, you will have the chance to take part in or participate in some extraordinary projects working with faculty that span all academic areas within SEAS.
Learn more about undergraduate research opportunities at Harvard SEAS.
Clubs and Organizations
SEAS-affiliated student organizations are critical to the overall growth of our concentrators as engineering and applied science professionals. These organizations enable our students to pursue passion projects and events in areas of interest that are complementary to the current formal academic curriculum. Learn more about SEAS-affiliated student clubs and organizations.
Hands-on Learning
At Harvard SEAS, we are committed to active learning as an integral part of undergraduate education. This approach is supported by our Active Learning Labs. These labs are meticulously designed to equip students with essential skills across the mechanical, electrical, computational, biological, environmental, and design disciplines. In collaboration, the Active Learning team and SEAS faculty develop engaging, hands-on activities that align with educational objectives and enhance coursework. This integrative approach ensures a robust learning environment that fosters practical and theoretical proficiency.