What if your career could reflect your climate values without focusing exclusively on science? For those drawn to work that informs, inspires, and mobilizes others, education plays an important role in advancing climate justice.

If you’re interested in how sustainability and learning can come together in your career, TC’s online M.A. in Sustainability & Education helps you turn your concern for climate justice into a purposeful, people-centered vocation. Whether in schools, nonprofits, or the public or private sector, this program prepares you to foster change through learning, communication, and collaboration in roles that connect education and sustainability.

“In this moment of climate crisis, it’s not just about technical solutions. It’s about changing how people think and behave. Education has a powerful role to play in that shift.”

Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor of International and Comparative Education and Director of the Center for Sustainable Futures

Why education and climate change must be addressed together

Education has long played a role in environmental awareness, but TC’s program goes further, focusing on how to dismantle the inequities that fuel and worsen climate impacts.

“Many students want to understand why some communities are more exposed to environmental hazards than others,” says Pizmony-Levy. “They’re asking questions about power, racism, history, and how education can be part of the solution.”

Those questions often begin with observations in daily life. Why are children in certain communities more likely to have asthma? Who decides where highways, parks, and polluting industries are located, and how are those decisions justified?

By examining these patterns and the systems behind them, students prepare for green economy or climate justice jobs that require both a clear understanding of environmental issues such as air quality, water use, and energy systems, and the ability to navigate the social realities that influence them. With this dual perspective, students learn to design and carry out initiatives that connect sustainability and education across sectors.

That’s why education is essential to climate action. It equips people to question inequities, imagine alternatives, and push for systemic change.

“Climate change is not just a science problem,” Pizmony-Levy says. “It’s a human problem.”

Climate anxiety, peer learning, and the power of community

The climate crisis raises urgent and difficult questions — like how education and climate change should intersect, how to prepare for shifting economies, or how to address inequities made worse by environmental disruption. Alongside these challenges, many people wrestle with feelings of climate anxiety and uncertainty about the future. TC’s online master’s in sustainability creates space to explore these issues in community, with others who are asking the same — and different — questions.

“Some students come to us not because they want a job in climate but because they need to make sense of what's going on,” says Pizmony-Levy. “They want to be part of a community that talks about it, that acts on it.”

That sense of community is fostered by a peer learning model that draws on students’ diverse backgrounds, from policy and science to education and advocacy. “You don’t have everyone agreeing on everything, and that’s good,” he says. “That’s how you learn.”

In conversations that blend knowledge and lived experience, students challenge one another, confront climate anxiety, and form the kinds of relationships that can sustain long-term engagement. For many, this network becomes a crucial part of doing the work — and staying with it.

Who should earn a TC master's in sustainability online?

Students come to TC’s graduate program with many different professional goals. Some want to bring sustainability into classrooms and school systems. Others work in government, philanthropy, or business and want to align their careers with their values. All of them see education as essential to climate justice. Whether one of these is the case for you or you have a different goal, the M.A. in Sustainability & Education offers a path to pursue an environmental education career, explore climate justice jobs, or prepare for sustainability education jobs that make a positive impact on the environment through education.

While this program attracts educators, “it’s not just for teachers,” says Pizmony-Levy. “It’s for people who want to work on systems — food, transportation, energy — and to understand how to move others toward sustainable alternatives.”

Pizmony-Levy wants to make clear TC’s program isn’t a teacher certification program; it is for educators who want to go beyond curriculum and reimagine the role of schooling and for professionals across sectors who see education as a way to drive progress.

“We want students to think about education in a broader sense,” says Pizmony-Levy. “What role can it play in this moment?”

Career paths for climate justice and education professionals

When you complete TC’s master’s in sustainability online, you can pursue a wide variety of climate justice jobs and sustainability education jobs, many of which extend well beyond traditional teaching roles. These include environmental education careers focused on community outreach, youth engagement, systems design, and more.

Here are just a few of the directions you might take with this degree:

• Education program coordinator: Oversee and deliver sustainability-focused educational initiatives in schools, cultural institutions, or nonprofits.
• Sustainability coordinator: Implement and track green practices in organizations ranging from school districts to higher ed and community groups.
• Science teacher: Integrate climate change and sustainability themes into classroom instruction and extracurricular programming.
• Outreach and engagement coordinator: Connect with communities to raise awareness and foster action around climate and equity issues.
• Corporate responsibility manager: Lead workplace programs that align business practices with environmental and social sustainability.
• Climate change specialist: Support projects and policies that address resilience, adaptation, and education for diverse populations.

“We see students entering roles that didn’t exist 10 or 15 years ago. It’s a growing field, and today more than ever there are opportunities for environmental and sustainability education jobs, particularly at the state and local levels.”

Oren Pizmony-Levy

To see how these roles play out across sectors, read How a Multidisciplinary Master’s in Sustainability Can Benefit Leaders. This article explores how graduates of TC’s program apply sustainability in education to careers in museums, government, nonprofits, and more.

Building skills to lead in sustainability education jobs

In addition to exploring issues in sustainability and education, students take courses that help them connect global frameworks with local realities and develop the practical skills needed to lead initiatives and become changemakers.

Coursework in the program includes:

• Climate Change, Society, and Education: Examine the scientific, social, and educational dimensions of climate change and how they intersect.
• Nutritional Ecology: Investigate how dietary systems affect both ecological and human health.
• Environmental Health: Study the impact of environmental factors like air and noise pollution on community well-being.
• Science in the Environment: Understand how scientific insights influence public understanding and inform policy.
• Research Methods: Develop a strong foundation in evaluating sustainability and educational programs through both qualitative and quantitative tools.

Instead of a thesis, students make a five-year strategic plan, developing a roadmap for the change they want to make.

“We’re not just sharing knowledge. We’re giving students a structure to apply that knowledge to the real world,” says Pizmony-Levy.

Pursue your master's in sustainability online and develop connections

Beyond coursework, the program’s design emphasizes community and connection. While this is a master’s in sustainability online, it includes intentional opportunities to build relationships. Students attend weeklong in-person residencies in New York City at the beginning and end of the program, where they connect with faculty, peers, and leaders in sustainability.

“We want students to feel supported and inspired,” says Pizmony-Levy. “The residencies help create that foundation.”

Throughout the program, students engage in synchronous and asynchronous learning, webinars, small group discussions, and activities through the Center for Sustainable Futures.

“Our students leave with a strong professional network,” he adds. “That matters for finding sustainability education jobs and for staying motivated.”

Bring climate justice into your career through education

If you’re looking for a graduate program that aligns with your commitment to climate justice, the online M.A. in Sustainability & Education at TC offers the structure, scholarship, and support to get there.

Education can be a powerful antidote to despair. As Pizmony-Levy explains, “Climate change can feel overwhelming, but we want to shift the focus from doom to doing — to help people feel that they can contribute, even in small ways, to a better future.”

Whether your path leads to nonprofit work, policy, curriculum development, or other education-focused roles, this program helps you build the skills and network to make a measurable difference. Learn more about how TC’s online Master’s in Sustainability & Education can help you bring your commitment to climate justice into your life’s work. Or if you know this is the path for you, start your application today.