Launched in 2017 along with the international Master of Environmental Policy (iMEP) program, the iMEP Summer Program is designed for individuals considering the environmental policy field, interested in improving English language skills, and experiencing the US-style classic education. The program also doubles as a refresher mini-course for incoming students for a comprehensive overview of the curriculum for the iMEP program.
Students will be briefly introduced to Carbon Accounting, Environmental Economics and Policy, Climate Finance, Introduction of Machine Learning to Environmental Data, Biodiversity and Conservation, and English public speaking skills. Through both lectures and workshops, students will learn essential skills such as data analysis, fundamental theories of microeconomics, and analyzing case studies. Because of its small size, the iMEP Summer Program provides an excellent opportunity for students to get to know each other well, create lifelong friendships, and expand their professional network.
The study of environmental policy is a language-intensive task. The iMEP Summer Program is explicitly designed to increase proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening to English, develop confidence, and facilitate personal adjustment to the culture of U.S. education. Students will be immersed in an English-speaking study environment. Small class sizes and individual instructor attention will give students a concentrated and tailored teaching experience.
The five-day program will focus on core academic courses and climate finance and sustainability research topics. Students will also attend a workshop on graduate school preparation and receive feedback on their resumes. Students will leave the program with a certificate of completion from Duke Kunshan University.
The iMEP Summer Program offers preparatory courses for iMEP prospective students, other undergraduate students, and professionals seeking an introduction to Environmental Economics and Policy, Statistics, and Academic English Practice. It benefits those who wish to prepare for graduate school in Environmental Management or Public Policy programs.
The iMEP Summer Program provides an in-person learning experience at the Duke Kunshan University campus. The five-day intensive course introduces students to environmental economics and policy, machine learning, climate finance, English public speaking skills, and the US education experience. Sessions are run by iMEP faculty and DKU undergraduate faculty.
In addition, seminars with heated topics such as ESG, green finance, sustainable and advanced materials will be delivered by our distinguished guest speakers. Social events will also be organized, like ice breaking, ice cream social, and movie night, from which they will know each other well, create lifelong friendships, and expand their networks.
Students also access a workshop on graduate school preparation and receive feedback on their resume in the iMEP Summer Program.
In the 5-day Climate Sustainability Summer program, you will:
Earn a certificate of completion from Duke Kunshan University.
Dr. Chuanhui Gu graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in the United States with a major in Environmental Science. He completed a postdoctoral study at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Gu held faculty position in Appalachian State University and Beijing Normal University prior to joining DKU. Key areas of his research include pollutant transport and fate at the land-atmosphere and land-water interfaces, groundwater-surface water interaction and its impacts on nutrient cycles, the multiphase flow and reactive transport model in porous media. Current research projects include soil organic amendment by solid wastes and its ecological risk assessment, greenhouse gas emission from human-disturbed lands, sponge city and stormwater management, bio-geomorphic effects on tidal channel evolution, etc.
Junjie Zhang is Volkswagen Chair in Sustainability in the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University, Associate Professor of Environmental Economics in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and in the Environment Program at Duke Kunshan University. He founded Duke Kunshan’s Environmental Research Center and International Master of Environmental Policy Program. He is a co-editor of China Economic Review. He also serves as a vice chair for the Chapter of Environmental Economics in the Chinese Academy of Environmental Science, an advisory board member for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and a board member for the Professional Association for China’s Environment. Prior to the current position, he was an associate professor in the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. His research centers on empirical issues in environmental and resource economics, with topics covering air pollution, energy transition, and climate change. His research projects have been funded by U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, China National Natural Science Foundation, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, Energy Foundation, The World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. He holds a B.S. from Renmin University of China, a B.S. and a M.S. from Tsinghua University, and a Ph.D. from Duke University.
Research interest of Chaoyi Chang hinges on the intersections between computation and design. With the rise of smartphones and other internet-connected devices, design choices become increasingly data-driven and dependent on information’s credibility in the construction of the human habitat. Chang’s research focuses on human habitat’s design, environmental impact, and information’s credibility in the big-data age. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include computational social science, digital humanities, and urban informatics.
He has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences, including on dig data and machine learning in natural science, social science, and the humanities.
Chi-Yeung Choi is an applied ecologist with expertise in animal ecology, conservation biology, wetland ecology and environmental management. He studies the relationship between animals and their environment. Current study systems include the ecology of migratory birds, with a focus on their foraging and movement ecology within and between coastal intertidal wetlands. This requires extensive fieldwork in many places ranging from Alaska and East Asia to Australia and New Zealand. The work has led to investigations of diet, habitat use, local movement, population dynamics as well as migration phenology and strategies, often using the latest technology in wildlife tracking and remote sensing. Based on the findings from these studies, long-term habitat quality monitoring, protected area boundary adjustment and integrated natural and artificial management are proposed to improve the habitats for migratory waterbirds. These efforts not only contribute to nature conservation, but also to the restoration of wetland ecosystems on which humans depend.
Dr. Coraline Goron obtained a double Ph.D. degree in Political Science from the University of Warwick and the Université Libre de Bruxelles under the aegis of the Erasmus Mundus GEM program. She holds an MA in European politics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and an LLM in international and Chinese law from the China-EU School of Law at the Chinese University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. Before joining DKU, Coraline was a postdoctoral research fellow funded by the Wiener-Anspach Foundation at the University of Oxford China Centre. Her research centers on environmental politics with a specific focus on China, both domestically and as an increasingly influential actor in global environmental governance.
Research interests of Lie Philip Santoso are on comparative political behavior and survey methodologies. Most of his works focus on how differences in economic and political context across countries and over time impact the political attitudes of citizens operating in those contexts. He is also interested in conducting survey research and exploring cutting-edge survey tools to answer political science questions. His publications include articles examining the utility of conducting surveys online and the impact of partisanship on citizens’ attitudes.
Before joining DKU, Dr. Wumeng He is an Assistant Professor in the Economics and Management School at Wuhan University. He is an applied economist and interested broadly on topics that connect environmental conservation and development. His current research focuses on forest conversation and land use change in developing countries and the impacts on government policies, primarily in the context of China, India, and Thailand. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Policy from Duke University (2021), M.A. in Economics from New York University (2013), and B.A. in Environmental Studies from Brown University (2011).
Dr. Zhuohui Zhao’s research focuses on air pollution and population health, environment (microbiomics) and children’s respiratory health, and environmental epidemiology. She graduated with a Ph.D. in environmental medicine from Uppsala University in Sweden in 2006. She started to work in Fudan University, School of Public Health since 2007. In 2018, she was promoted to professor and in 2020, she was awarded as National Top Youth Talents.
Kevin Sprague is a writing and language learning coach in the Writing and Language Studio. He also teaches Academic Writing, Public Speaking and Debate at DKU. Kevin particularly interested in how culture influences language learning, developing students’ pronunciation and developing students’ reading skills.
Email: international@dukekunshan.edu.cn