SUNY-ESF offers 1-year online certificate for graduate students, seniors

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This fall, SUNY-ESF introduced an online certificate in science and environmental communication and public relations management, the university announced in a press release.

Starting this semester, the one-year certificate is open to graduate students at SUNY-ESF, as well as seniors looking to supplement their bachelor’s degrees, with class times scheduled to cater to both working professionals and full-time students.

“The need exists more than ever, I would say,” said Andrea Feldpausch-Parker, a professor at SUNY-ESF. “Not only are we dealing with a pandemic where these kinds of nontraditional learning environments become even more important, but the crises that we’re facing right now are just getting more acute.”

Feldpausch-Parker said she thinks the need for these kinds of programs will only continue to grow and that it’s crucial for colleges to implement teaching formats that allow working professionals to access education.

The one-year certificate comprises three courses: “Public Relations Management for Environmental Professionals,” “Public Perception and Communication of the Environment, Science and Risk,” and “Environmental Advocacy Campaigns and Conflict Resolution Application.”

This is SUNY-ESF’s second certificate offering following the 2017 launch of its certificate in environmental leadership. ESF is planning to introduce a third certificate in environmental justice and inequality pending approval from the New York State Department of Education, according to an email from Benette Whitmore, a SUNY-ESF professor who helped develop the environmental communication certificate program.

Students will have the option to combine the three certificates and a capstone course for a master’s of professional studies in leadership, justice and communication.

Maria Andriano decided to take advantage of the certificate program at the onset of the pandemic based on the recommendation of a senior member of the staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Andriano, who runs her own public relations agency in New York City, sees the online format as essential to her ability to participate in the program as she seeks to shift her agency’s focus towards environmental organizations and companies.

“It’s been a very fulfilling, exciting opportunity for me to go back to school and to learn from some of the best professors in the field,” Andriano said. “It has really expanded my horizons in terms of the various environmental issues and the work that’s being done to tackle them.”

The goals of students in the program include promoting sustainability in the private sector while working at a New York City music venue, as well as effectively communicating with stakeholders in stream restoration and hydrology, Whitmore said.

The ability to interact with the other students, even in the online format, is a key part of Andriano’s positive experience with the program, she said.

The skills taught in the certificate program apply directly to careers in the field, Feldpausch-Parker said.

“Oftentimes these are kind of positions that require knowledge, not only on how to communicate with people, but about the science itself,” she said. “That’s another important component where we’re constantly like, ‘What are the scientific issues and the complexities behind those issues that we’re trying to communicate about,’ because communicating complexity is a difficult task.”