Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Develop evidence-based decarbonization strategies in this two-week Dartmouth academy for high school students.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 for classroom experience by students who took this course in 2026.
Course Description
Students examine the technologies, policies, and ethical choices shaping the transition to a lower-carbon future. The course brings together climate science, engineering, economics, philosophy, medicine, and public policy so that energy decisions are considered from several angles.
Students calculate personal carbon footprints, interpret emissions data, compare energy technologies, and debate climate policy. Case studies and collaborative projects ask them to connect individual choices with infrastructure, economics, air quality, environmental justice, and public action.
A carbon-tax versus cap-and-trade simulation asks students to negotiate from the perspectives of governments, businesses, citizens, and nongovernmental organizations. Guest speakers and a visit to Dartmouth’s Bone Lab add perspectives from climate science, environmental anthropology, medicine, ecology, agriculture, and sustainability.
Students are asked to distinguish a promising technology from a complete climate strategy. Their final project must address emissions, cost, feasibility, equity, policy, infrastructure, and human behavior in a realistic decarbonization plan for a community or system they know.
This two-week full-day academy is part of Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars. Students spend the full program focused on one intensive academy. The academy is available to residential and commuter students. Beyond class, students connect focused academic work with campus life, growing independence, and clearer direction about what students may want to study or pursue next. The program is developed and academically led by Dartmouth.
What Will You Do?
• Calculate and interpret personal and community carbon footprints
• Compare energy mixes, costs, storage options, and emissions
• Analyze climate-health and environmental-justice case studies
• Debate ethical, economic, and policy questions
• Take part in a carbon-tax versus cap-and-trade simulation
• Learn from visiting scientists and sustainability professionals
• Design and present an evidence-based decarbonization strategy
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Analyze sources of carbon emissions and interpret relevant environmental evidence
• Evaluate energy technologies and policy choices across scientific, economic, and ethical dimensions
• Design and communicate an evidence-based decarbonization strategy
Students leave with a completed sustainability proposal, stronger interdisciplinary reasoning, and clearer direction about environmental science, engineering, policy, economics, or climate research.
Why Clean Energy Skills Matter
Clean-energy decisions sit at the intersection of technology, evidence, cost, ethics, and public policy. Students learn that comparing energy sources requires more than naming what is renewable. They must examine emissions, infrastructure, environmental effects, feasibility, and who bears the benefits or costs.
Carbon-footprint calculations, data analysis, debate, and strategy work develop quantitative reasoning and systems thinking. These skills matter in engineering, environmental science, economics, geography, medicine, public health, law, and policy wherever communities must make defensible choices about climate and energy.
Who Should Attend?
This academy is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in climate, energy, engineering, environmental science, economics, ethics, or public policy. It suits students who want to evaluate solutions rather than study the problem from only one discipline.
Participants should be ready to work with data, make calculations, discuss contested policy questions respectfully, take part in simulations and case studies, and collaborate on a decarbonization strategy. Curiosity about how science and public decisions interact will help students engage deeply.
Recommended by 9 out of 10 Students
Based on students surveyed in the Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars program (2026)
Why Dartmouth?
Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars gives high school students a concentrated introduction to college-level learning in Hanover, New Hampshire. The program is developed and academically led by Dartmouth. Students explore current ideas through discussion, projects, and sustained work that helps them test an academic interest in depth.
Residential students live in Dartmouth residence halls, eat at 53 Commons, and can join workshops and counselor-supported evening and weekend activities. Time in Hanover and the Upper Valley adds a distinctive New England setting, while the broader experience helps students build independence and clarify what they may want to study next.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive
Dartmouth
Dartmouth
Dartmouth