Environmental Science - MS

The field of environmental science encompasses all regulatory areas that work to protect human health through applied science, create a sustainable balance between society and the environment, and develop preventative healthcare methods.

The Interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences Graduate Program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

A graduate degree in environmental sciences provides opportunities to contribute to our field in impactful ways. Through comprehensive research and interdisciplinary studies, our students are challenged to address a wide-ranging assortment of rapidly changing environmental issues and concerns that are posing significant tests to the world today.

Our environmental science master’s degree takes about two to three years and involves taking courses and performing thesis research (for the standard thesis-track students). The environmental science M.S. track is more structured than the Ph.D. and students’ projects are often part of a larger research program. Although many of our master’s students are contributing new knowledge to the field and the option to do research is not limited, more research productivity is expected of a doctoral student. The environmental science master’s degree is more focused on the thesis research than on publications, but students generally have the opportunity to participate in published work or to publish their own research if they choose.