The Master of Environmental Sustainability program produces trained professionals ready to start confronting environmental issues from the moment they graduate. The degree is designed to combine a solid foundation with immense flexibility to combine science, policy, and tools courses in ways that best match student interests and career goals. A capstone course provides a finishing client-focused experience that requires students to bring many aspects of their degree to the project and to work with people with a diversity of backgrounds and training.

Degree Requirements

(36 credit hours) The core requirements of the M.E.S. degree consist of two three-credit courses: E543 Environmental Management and E555 Project Management. Each student must also complete the requirements of one concentration (27 credits) and complete one capstone course (3 credits).

Environmental Sustainability Core (6 credit hours)

The following two courses:

Capstone Course

(3 credit hours) The capstone course gives MES students an opportunity to use their knowledge and skills to address a real-world, client-based problem. Students from a variety of backgrounds work together on a semester-long project for an individual, organization, or agency. This requirement may be met in one of the following ways:

• SPEA-E 555 BMP Design for Healthy Urban Watersheds
• SPEA-V 600 Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs

All capstone projects are expected to culminate in a formal report and public presentation.

Prior Professional Experience Credit

The M.E.S. Program Director of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs may grant up to 6 credit hours towards the M.E.S. degree for students who have significant experience in environmental management or environmental sustainability. In general, credit requires work experience above the entry level that involves some independent managerial, analytic, or scientific responsibility. Depending on the nature of the experience, prior professional experience credit may be granted in the core, concentration, or capstone portion of the degree, or in combinations of these.

Concentrations

(27 credit hours) Each concentration must include at least 6 credits of fundamental science courses and at least 6 credits of applications courses. Courses will be chosen in conjunction with an advisor to ensure the best match to student interests and career goals. Each student should select one of the following concentrations:

• Environmental Quality and Toxicology
• Municipal Sustainability
• Sustainable Natural Resource Conservation and Management
• Sustainable Water Resources