Phillip Barnes, a research professor in USC’s School of the Environment, initiated the summer school and developed a model for the course structure with Peter Letmathe, a professor of corporate environmental management at Universitat Siegen in Germany. The two now team-teach with Larry Fredendall, an associate professor in management at Clemson University.

Students in the 12-day, three-credit course learned about environmental management systems (EMS) and its relation to cost-accounting methodologies. They took part in lectures, reviewed and presented environmental management case studies, and worked in teams to evaluate and solve environmental management problems within companies from various countries. Students also toured and conducted EMS desktop audits at the BMW and Milliken manufacturing plants in the Upstate. Other activities, such as a canoe trip down the Congaree River, helped the students get to know each other.

“There is a lot of interaction among this international group, which is just as important, I think, as the context of the course,” Letmathe said.

All the students have a fervent interest in the environment, but each has their own reason for taking the course.

“Dr. Barnes came to the University of Barcelona to lecture on EMS and about sustainability and environmental management, and I found it very interesting,” said Laura Talens, a Ph.D. student from Spain who is studying industrial ecology. “This is my first trip to the United States, so everything about this course is a learning experience for me.”

Huang Yangyi, a student from China who is studying at the University of Siegen, is completing a second master’s degree.

“I have a master’s degree in economics and business administration, and I’m now working on a master’s degree in environmental management,” he said. “This course expands my career potential because there is a big market for such knowledge in China. And I can practice my English while I am here.”

Wentworth Printing Corporation, BMW, and the Milliken Company assisted in sponsoring the course. The 2006 Summer School on Environmental Management is scheduled to take place at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain.

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