For “green” policy expert Peter Linquiti, who was recently named Director of Graduate Studies of the Environmental Resource Policy Program, the program’s multi-disciplinary approach to environmental and sustainability studies is critical to its success.
“I have learned over my 25-year-career that few, if any, important environmental challenges can be met if we look only through the lens afforded by a single discipline,” said Linquiti. “In an increasingly complex world, with deep and subtle connections between human activity and environmental conditions, our graduates can draw on their cross-cutting training to analyze and understand issues like climate change, fracking, urban sustainability, and the environmental impacts of industries like transportation, agriculture, and energy.”
Linquiti, who has been a visiting professor at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration for the past three years, is an expert on policies relating to air quality, climate change, hazardous and solid waste, drinking water, risk assessment, and new green technologies.
Formerly, he served as executive vice president of ICF International, a global consulting firm that focuses on energy and environmental policy. He holds a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration from GW, and a Master’s in Public Policy and a BA in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley.
“I am delighted to be taking a leadership role in the ENRP program,” said Linquiti, who will assume his new post as director on January 1. “I was drawn to the program because of its commitment to interdisciplinary environmental analysis. In addition, the program is a strong one, thanks in large measure to the current leadership team—Dr. Henry Teng and Dr. Cathy Forster—and to the work of a faculty committee that revamped the curriculum three years ago.”
The Environmental Resource Policy Program combines perspectives that include science, economics, law, and public policy and prepares students to enter careers in the field of environmental policy or to proceed to doctoral-level work in connected academic disciplines.
“Dr. Linquiti is an exciting addition to this program,” said Tara Ghoshal Wallace, Columbian College’s associate dean for graduate studies. “His knowledge of both the academic and professional worlds will be immensely valuable to our students.”