Environmental Studies - MPS

The Department of Environmental Studies offers degree and certificate programs in environmental studies, science, and policy, as well as interdepartmental master's and Ph.D. options, and concurrent programs with major universities. The Environmental Studies program emphasizes interdisciplinary social science, humanities and natural science approaches to environmental understanding and stewardship.

ES programs maintain a strong academic orientation, facilitating student and faculty engagement with fundamental environmental challenges and dynamics such as multiple and conflicting levels of environmental governance, participatory democracy, sustainable development, uses and limits of scientific prediction, discourses of environment, cultural expressions of nature, risk, and ecological sustainability.

Two graduate degrees in Environmental Studies are offered:

• Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.)
• Master of Science (M.S.)

The Environmental Studies graduate program at ESF is dedicated to preparing students to actively support local to global communities working to achieve sustainability. The program integrates social, cultural, and environmental knowledge and skills to address the challenges of the 21st century. Students in this program want to make a difference.

Our program offers students a focused, yet flexible, interdisciplinary understanding of environmental issues, the problems that underlie them, and the paths that lead to sustainable communities. The program facilitates student engagement with the study of fundamental cultural, social, political, technical, and economic forces that drive environmental degradation as well as the emerging approaches that can foster sustainability.

The M.P.S. in Environmental Studies degree program is a 30-33 credit-hour experience focused on advanced academic scholarship and its application to environmental affairs and sustainability. This degree requires the completion of a synthesis experience, often involving an individual or group-based professional internship. All students must present a Capstone Seminar during their final semester.