• The Institute of Ecolonomics is on campus at MSSU. A great combination for education and life long learning about we can all do for a sustainable economy and healthy environment.

MSSU Cert

Ecolonomics, a phrase coined by Missouri Southern alumnus and Emmy-award winning actor, Dennis Weaver, is the promotion of sustainable alternatives that are economically profitable. Simply put, ecolonomics means maintaining natural resources in ways that are economically sound. A key component in this effort is sustainability, practices that maintain natural resources at their present level or better. Sustainability is relatively new to many businesses and industries.

Missouri Southern has developed a certificate program in Ecolonomics to help businesses develop ways to provide goods and services in an environmentally friendly way. By understanding these concepts, government officials, industry personnel and others can develop better policies and procedures that make sense for business and the environment. A certificate in Ecolonomics adds a distinctive credential to degrees in business, political science, biology, environmental health and any of several other areas. So, new graduates with the certificate should have an extra edge in the marketplace when competing with applicants with otherwise similar skills.

In 1997, officials from Missouri Southern participated with Dennis Weaver in the "Ecolonomics in Education Summit" held at Chattanooga State Technical Community College in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That meeting resulted in the formation of a working group composed of faculty from business and economics, biology, and social sciences who developed a 13-credit certificate program in ecolonomics and sustainability.