Energy and Resources

University of California, Berkeley

About the Program

UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group (ERG) confers an interdisciplinary Undergraduate Minor in Energy and Resources and a Summer Minor/Certificate in Sustainability, as well as graduate M.A., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

Energy and Resources Group research and courses empha­size knowl­edge of the envi­ron­men­tal con­se­quences of resource use; ana­lyt­i­cal tools that pro­mote effi­ciency, con­ser­va­tion, afford­abil­ity, and equity in energy and resource use; and under­stand­ing of the social and insti­tu­tional con­texts in which resource and envi­ron­men­tal prob­lems arise, and in which cre­ative and eth­i­cal solu­tions can be sus­tained. It is this syn­the­sis of basic sci­ence, prac­ti­cal problem-solving, and con­struc­tive social cri­tique that defines ERG.

Visit the Energy and Resources Group website for more information about our undergraduate minors and graduate programs.

Energy and Resources Minor

The Minor in Energy and Resources offers under­grad­u­ates basic knowl­edge and skills to address issues arising from the inter­ac­tion of social, eco­nomic, polit­i­cal, tech­ni­cal, and envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors shaping our world.

Students in the minor gain an understanding of: 

  • Technology, Development, and Society

  • Consumption, Resource Use, and Equity

  • Global Change Science and Economics

  • Governance Challenges

Stu­dents in any major may add the Energy and Resources minor, which is composed of two core and three elective upper-division courses. Students in the minor benefit from previous preparation in mathematics and science.

Summer Sustainability Minor

Whatever direction your studies take you, the Energy and Resources Summer Minor / Certificate in Sustainability will equip you with tools to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. This program offers a practical and relevant interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of environmental, economic, social, political, and cultural issues.

Students in the interdisciplinary Summer Minor in Sustainability will learn about:

  • The science, engineering, economics, and policy of renewable energy
  • Biodiversity, environmental degradation, and the science behind climate change
  • The business and economics of environmental sustainability
  • Environmental change and social justice

The Summer Minor / Certificate in Sustainability is open to matriculated UC Berkeley undergraduates, students from other institutions, and the general public. Upon completion, UC Berkeley undergraduates receive a Minor in Sustainability, while other participants receive a Certificate in Sustainability from UC Berkeley. Visit the Energy and Resources Group website for more information.

Visit Group Website

Minor Requirements

The Energy and Resources Minor

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements.

General Guidelines
  1. All courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements below must be taken for graded credit, except for courses taken in Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, or Summer 2021 , when students will be allowed to take courses Pass/No Pass.

  2. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements.

  3. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.

  4. At least four upper division courses must be taken at UC Berkeley.

Declaring the Minor

Students interested in pursuing the Energy and Resources minor should submit an Intent to Declare the Minor form during the semester in which upper division minor coursework is started. For information on how to submit your intent to pursue the minor, courses that fulfill the minor, how common lower division prerequisites may be completed, and how to declare the minor once completed, please visit the ERG website.

Requirements FOR THE eNERGY AND rESOURCES mINOR

Students have or will develop strong foundations in math, physics, chemistry, and biology.

There are no lower division courses required for the Energy and Resources Minor; however in some cases lower division coursework is required in order to be enrolled in the upper division courses.

Many of the Energy and Resources minor upper division courses have prerequisites such as: MATH 1A-MATH 1B or MATH 16A-MATH 16BPHYSICS 7A-PHYSICS 7B or PHYSICS 8A- PHYSICS 8B; CHEM 1A or CHEM 4A; and BIOLOGY 1B

Upper division requirements (five courses):
Two core courses:
One of:
ENE,RES C100Energy and Society4
ENE,RES W100Energy and Society4
AND:
ENE,RES 102Quantitative Aspects of Global Environmental Problems4
Three upper division electives, approved by the ERG faculty (see below):
At least one course must be in the social sciences.
At least one course must be in the natural sciences or engineering.
At one of the three upper division electives must be from the ERG department.
Electives

The choice of electives should be made with two goals in mind: exploring the range of approaches available to address energy and resource issues and complementing the student's major. The latter can be achieved by adding relevant depth in closely related areas or by exploring methods and approaches that contrast with the tools and knowledge base employed in the major. Students are encouraged to discuss their program with the Energy and Resources minor advisor.

The following courses have been approved, but students should contact the Energy and Resources minor advisor to request approval of alternate courses. At least four upper division courses must be taken at Berkeley.

To complete the minor student taken 3 electives. One must be a social science elective and one must be a natural science and engineering elective.
Social science electives
ENE,RES 160Course Not Available4
ENE,RES W174Course Not Available3
ENE,RES C176Climate Change Economics4
ENE,RES 190BEnergy and Environmental Issues (Gender and the Environment)4
ENVECON C101Environmental Economics4
ENVECON C102Natural Resource Economics4
ENVECON C132International Environmental Economics4
ENVECON 141Agricultural and Environmental Policy4
ENVECON 145Health and Environmental Economic Policy4
ENVECON 147The Economics of the Clean Energy Transition4
ENVECON C151Development Economics4
ENVECON 153Population, Environment, and Development3
ENVECON 162Economics of Water Resources3
ESPM 102DClimate and Energy Policy4
ESPM 155ACSociology and Political Ecology of Agro-Food Systems4
ESPM 162AHealth, Medicine, Society and Environment4
ESPM 168Political Ecology4
ESPM 169International Environmental Politics4
GEOG 138Global Environmental Politics4
ISF 100FTheorizing Modern Capitalism: Controversies and Interpretations4
Natural science and engineering electives
ENE,RES 101Ecology and Society3
ENE,RES 131Data, Environment and Society4
CIV ENG 100Elementary Fluid Mechanics4
CIV ENG 105Design for Global Transformation3
CIV ENG 107Climate Change Mitigation3
CIV ENG 110Water Systems of the Future3
CIV ENG 111Environmental Engineering3
CIV ENG 112Water & Wastewater Systems Design and Operation3
CIV ENG 113Ecological Engineering for Water Quality Improvement3
CIV ENG 114Environmental Microbiology3
CIV ENG 115Water Chemistry3
CIV ENG 173Groundwater and Seepage3
CIV ENG 186Design of Internet-of-Things for Smart Cities3
EL ENG 137BIntroduction to Electric Power Systems4
EPS 117Geomorphology4
ESPM C110AEcological Analysis4
ESPM 111Ecosystem Ecology4
ESPM 112Microbial Ecology3
ESPM 116BGrassland and Woodland Ecology4
ESPM 120Science of Soils3
ESPM C128Chemistry of Soils3
ESPM/EPS C129Biometeorology3
ESPM C130Terrestrial Hydrology4
ESPM 130AForest Hydrology4
ESPM 131Soil Microbiology and Biogeochemistry4
ESPM 140General Entomology4
ESPM 152Global Change Biology3
ESPM C170Carbon Cycle Dynamics3
ESPM C172Remote Sensing of the Environment4
ESPM 174AApplied Time Series Analysis for Ecology and Environmental Sciences3
ESPM/EPS C180/CIV ENG C106Air Pollution3
GEOG 140APhysical Landscapes: Process and Form4
INTEGBI 106ACourse Not Available4
INTEGBI 152Course Not Available4
INTEGBI C153Ecology3
INTEGBI 157LFEcosystems of California4
Other electives
ENE,RES 170Environmental Classics3
ENE,RES 171California Water3
ENE,RES 190Seminar in Energy and Resources Issues3
ARCH 140Energy and Environment4
CIV ENG 175Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering3
CIV ENG 176Environmental Geotechnics3
CIV ENG 191Civil and Environmental Engineering Systems Analysis3
CY PLAN 119Planning for Sustainability4
EL ENG 137AIntroduction to Electric Power Systems4
ENV DES 106Sustainable Environmental Design Workshop4
ESPM 118Agricultural Ecology4
ESPM C133Water Resources and the Environment3
ESPM 157Data Science in Global Change Ecology4
ESPM 160ACAmerican Environmental and Cultural History4
ESPM 161Environmental Philosophy and Ethics4
ESPM 162Bioethics and Society4
ESPM 163ACEnvironmental Justice: Race, Class, Equity, and the Environment4
ESPM 177ASustainable Water and Food Security4
GEOG 107Waste Matters: Exploring the Abject, Discarded, and Disposable3
GEOG 108Geographies of Energy: The Rise and Fall of the Fossil Fuel Economy3
GEOG 114Thinking Globally, Acting Regionally: Geographies of Climate Change3
GEOG 130Food and the Environment4
GEOG 147Communicating Climate Science3
GEOG 149BClimate Impacts and Risk Analysis3
GEOG 157Decolonizing Nature: Race, Empire and the Environment4
MEC ENG 146Energy Conversion Principles3
UGBA 192PSustainable Business Consulting Projects3
UGBA 193BEnergy & Civilization4

Summer Minor Requirements

Summer Minor and Certificate in Sustainability

Whatever direction your studies take you, the Summer Minor or Certificate in Sustainability will equip you with tools to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the world today.

The summer minor and certificate program in sustainability is open to matriculated UC Berkeley undergraduates and visiting summer-only students. Upon completion, UC Berkeley undergraduates receive a Minor in Sustainability; summer-only students receive a Certificate in Sustainability from UC Berkeley. More information can be found by clicking here.

CURRICULUM:

The Sustainability Minor or Certificate focuses on environmental sustainability. Students gain an understanding of the social science and history of environmental thought and movements; the science, engineering, policy, and economics of environmental change; renewable energy; biodiversity and environmental degradation; the business and economics of sustainability, and environmental justice.

Scholarship funds are available to eligible UC Berkeley students who complete the Summer Minor in Sustainability.

A minimum of 15 units of coursework is required, which can be completed during one or two summers. Students must complete either Energy and Society ENE,RES W100 / ENE,RES C100 or Climate Change Economics ENE,RES C176 in addition to choosing electives from the list of approved courses below.

UC Berkeley undergraduates may elect to take either Energy and Society ENE,RES C100 or Climate Change Economics  ENE,RES C176 during the summer or the fall terms.

All other elective courses will be offered during the summer only and are unique to summer. The courses Energy and Society and Water and Sanitation Justice are offered in a web-based format during the summer and can be taken remotely.

All courses taken for the minor must be taken for a Letter Grade (C- or better), with the exception of courses taken in Fall 2020 and Summer 2021 when courses could be taken for Pass/ No Pass.

Core Course (select one)

ENE,RES C100Energy and Society4
ENE,RES W100Energy and Society4
ENE,RES C200Energy and Society4
ENE,RES W200Energy and Society4
ENE,RES C176Climate Change Economics4

Electives (select four)

Please consult with the Minor Advisor for a complete list of currently available and approved electives.

ENE,RES W100Energy and Society4
ENE,RES 101Ecology and Society3
ENE,RES 170Environmental Classics3
ENE,RES 171California Water3
ENE,RES W174Course Not Available3
ENE,RES C176Climate Change Economics4
ENE,RES C192Business, Sustainability, and Society3
 
 

Courses

Energy and Resources

Contact Information

Energy and Resources Group

345 Giannini Hall

Phone: 510-642-1640

Fax: 510-642-1085

ergdeskb@berkeley.edu

Visit Group Website

Chair

Professor Duncan Callaway

337 Giannini Hall

dcal@berkeley.edu

Faculty Undergraduate Minor Advisor

Professor Lara Kueppers

345 Giannini Hall

Phone: 510-642-1640

lmkueppers@berkeley.edu

Group Manager

Megan Amaral

345 Giannini Hall

Phone: 510-642-1760

megana@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Affairs Officer

Candace Groskreutz

345 Giannini Hall

candaceg@berkeley.edu

ERG Minor Advisor

260 Mulford Hall

erg.minor@berkeley.edu

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