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JD/Master of Environmental Management

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In collaboration with the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke Law School offers the opportunity to pursue a JD/Master of Environmental Management dual degree. Candidates apply separately to the Law School and the Nicholas School and receive independent admission decisions.

Students admitted to the JD/MEM program complete both degrees in four years. Some choose to spend their first year at the law school, and their second year at the Nicholas School, and take classes from both during their third and fourth years. Others reverse the order of the first two years of study, beginning at the Nicholas School and then completing the first year of law school.

Master of Environmental Management

Duke's MEM program teaches students how to analyze and manage natural environments for human benefit and ecosystem health, focusing on the scientific bases of environmental problems as well as the social, political, and economic factors that determine effective policy solutions. MEM students may concentrate in Coastal Environmental Management, Ecosystems Science and Conservation, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Health, Energy and Environment, Environmental Economics and Policy, Forest Resource Management, Global Environmental Change, or Water and Air Resources. MEM students complete a master's project, which may be combined with an internship.

Environmental Studies at Duke Law

Duke Law offers a variety of resources for students interested in environmental aspects of the legal profession.

Submit a JD application to the Law School and indicate your intention to apply for the dual degree on that form. Concurrently, submit your application to the Nicholas School for their degree program. Follow their directions to indicate that you are also applying to the Law School.

It is also possible to matriculate into one degree program at Duke and apply to the other during the first year of study.

Each school will complete its normal application review process, and you will receive separate decisions for each degree. These processes run on different timelines, so you are not guaranteed to receive the decisions at the same time.

If you are admitted to both degrees, you may choose where to begin your studies at Duke. Please be sure to notify the schools of your decision so that they can manage their classes appropriately.