Master's in Environmental Sciences

The Department’s course offerings reflect the priority areas identified by the 2003 National Science Foundation’s report on environmental research and education (NSF 2003: Complex Environmental Systems: Synthesis for Earth, Life, and Society in the 21st Century).  These are: 

• Biophysical Systems (Coupled Biological and Physical Systems)
• Environmental Planning and Management (Coupled Human and Natural Systems)
• Environmental Assessment and Analysis (Coupled People and Technology)

All the graduate courses offered by the Department are categorized into one of these three areas, and are listed in Table 1.

The following are the minimum course requirements for the MS thesis option. A suggested sequence of courses is summarized in Table 2.

• 36 credit hours beyond the bachelor degree level; at least half at the 7000 level.
• ENVS 7700 – Integrated Environmental Issues (3 hours)
• ENVS 7995 – Environmental Seminar (1 hour)
• 6 hours from each of the three priority areas (18 hours)
• An additional 3 hour course from priority area of choice (3 hours)
• 5 hours of elective coursework, which can be additional coursework taken within or outside the department (5 hours)*
• ENVS 8000 – thesis research (6 hours)

The student must complete a thesis and successfully defend the thesis in an oral examination. The thesis must be acceptable in subject matter and exhibit creditable literary workmanship to the satisfaction of the thesis committee and meet with the approval of The Graduate School.

* courses taken outside of the department must have the approval of the student’s advisor committee