In a nation in which roughly 5 percent of the world’s population requires about 20 percent of the world’s annual natural resource flows to maintain its standard of living, few issues have such a global impact as energy and the environment.
The College’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy leads an internationally recognized academic and research program focusing on the institutional dimensions of social and technological change related to energy, the environment, and sustainable development. 
Led by the center’s director, Professor John Byrne, the 10 faculty and more than 60 graduate students associated with the center are an internationally diverse group representing backgrounds in political science, economics, engineering, sociology, geography, philosophy, environmental studies, and history.
"Graduate students are an integral part of the research and teaching taking place through the center," says Byrne. "Through our collaborative research and exchange agreements with institutions abroad, our students have unparalleled opportunities to see and take part in energy and environmental policy development in an international arena."
For example, five students joined Byrne in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 to present the center’s proposals on climate change policy at the United Nations-organized forum to negotiate international targets to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. A team of six students traveled with Byrne and the center’s associate director, Young-Doo Wang, to Seoul, South Korea, in 1998 to open the Joint Institute for a Sustainable Energy and Environmental Future. This institute was co-founded by the center with partners from Korea and Japan.
While the center’s students are active in international policy, they also contribute to a better U.S. and Delaware environment. With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, seven center students and staff are preparing a climate change action plan for Delaware. Another team of four students and Byrne are completing a study of alternative methods of addressing environmental justice issues in urban America. Students have also recently participated in projects on the socioeconomic impacts of global climate change, the economic and environmental evaluation of solar energy options, the impacts of U.S. clean air and water policies, and integrated resource planning.