Programs
Bloomington Campus
Master of Science in Environmental Science Joint Degree Programs
Dual M.S.E.S. - M.S. Intelligent Systems Engineering
Master of Science in Environmental Science–Master of Science in Intelligent Systems Engineering (M.S.E.S.–M.S.I.S.E)
Students must earn at least 51 credits in total, including at least 21-credits each in the M.S.E.S. and M.S.I.S.E. programs. The M.S.E.S. and M.S.I.S.E. degrees are awarded concurrently after the student has completed the requirements for both degrees.
MSES Core Requirements (9 credit hours)
These courses establish the fundamental competencies required of environmental engineers and scientists.
The following two courses:
| SPEA-E 513 | Environmental Project Management | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 538 | Statistics for Environmental Science OR | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-V 506 | Statistical Analysis for Effective Decision Making | (3 cr.) |
Note: With demonstration of prior coursework in statistics and/or probability theory, these credits can be replaced with any course from the next list.
Select one course from the following list:
| SPEA-E 431 | Water supply and Wastewater Treatment | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 515 | Fundamentals of Air Pollution | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 520 | Environmental Toxicology | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 527 | Applied Ecology | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 536 | Environmental Chemistry | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 550 | Soil Science and Management | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Fluid Mechanics | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 564 | Organic Pollutants: Environmental Chemistry and Fate | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 574 | Energy Systems | (3 cr.) |
Economics, Management, and Policy Core Competencies (6 credit hours)
Justification: Courses in this section provide context for environmental and intelligent systems engineering, including how science impacts and is impacted by social, political, and economic systems.
| SPEA-E 543 | Environmental Management | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 560 | Environmental Risk Analysis | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-P 539 | Management Science for Public Affairs | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-P 541 | Benefit Cost Analysis | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 512 | Climate Law and Policy | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 521 | Domestic Environmental Policy | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 531 | Water Law | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 532 | Water Policy and Economics | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 533 | Public Natural Resource Law | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 535 | International Environmental Policy | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 590 | Energy Policy: A Nation State Perspective | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 625 | Environmental Economics and Policy | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 643 | Natural Resource Management and Policy | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 645 | Environmental Law | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-R 674 | Energy Economics and Policy | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-S 596 | Sustainable Development | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-V 517 | Public Management Economics | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-V550 | Energy Law and Policy | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-X 511 | Human Behavior and Energy Consumptions | (3 cr.) |
Other SPEA courses may be approved by advisor.
MSISE Core Requirements (7 credit hours)
These courses establish the fundamental competencies required of environmental engineers and scientists.
The following two courses:
| ENGR-E 500 | Introduction to Intelligent Systems Engineering | (1 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 552 | Environmental Engineering | (3 cr.) |
Select one course from the following list:
| ENGR-E 501 | Introduction to Computer Engineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 502 | Introduction to Cyberphysical Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 503 | Introduction to Intelligent Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 504 | Introduction to Bioengineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 505 | Introduction to Nanoengineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 506 | Introduction to Neuroengineering | (3 cr.) |
MSISE Computing Tools Requirements (3 credit hours)
Familiarity with multiple computing languages and the ability to learn to operate across them is a requisite skillset in this field.
Select at least 3 credits from the following courses:
| ENGR-E 501 | Introduction to Computer Engineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 502 | Introduction to Cyberphysical Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 503 | Introduction to Intelligent Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 511 | Machine Learning and Signal Processing | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 516 | Engineering Cloud Computing | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 517 | High Performance Computing | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 533 | Deep Learning Systems | (3 cr.) |
| INFO-D 590 | Data Science Onramp (variable topics) | (1-3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Intro to Coding for Environment and Policy | (1 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Python Programming for Environment and Policy | (1 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Using R for Environment and Policy | (1 cr.) |
Note: Students may apply for a Computing Tools Waiver based on previously completed coursework or existing expertise, in which case these 3 credits would be replaced by an ENGR course with instructor approval. Other courses may be approved by advisor.
Experiential Requirement (0-3 credit hours)
Each candidate for the MS-ES/ISE dual degree program must obtain professionally relevant experience through one of the following options:
1. Approved Internship SPEA-E 589 or ENGR-E 591 (0-3 credit hours)The student will work with the O'Neill Career Hub to arrange for a suitable internship. Internships vary greatly according to the expectations and requirements of the sponsor. Students are expected to give careful attention in the selection of an internship suitable to their professional goals. Typically, students do not use credit hours for the internship, and as a result, have minimal fees for the experience. However, students who want the additional credit hours can receive up to 3 credit hours for an internship involving the appropriate amount of work; these students will owe fees for the 3 credit hours.
2. Prior Professional Experience (3 credit hours)
Students who have had significant environmental management, computing, technical or design work experience in the past may receive 3 credit hours. To receive 3 credit hours, a student must have a minimum of one year’s work experience. Under no circumstances will prior professional experience credit and transfer credit total more than 12 hours. Students receiving prior professional experience credit should carefully plan the balance of their program with their faculty advisors.
Capstone Requirements (3 credit hours)
Each candidate for the MS-ES/ISE dual degree program should take a 3-credit hour course during which they participate in a team to carry out an integrative project that addresses a multidisciplinary problem, or the candidate should conduct a graduate-level research project that culminates in a publication or thesis. Capstone course credit may be double-counted in either Concentration or Tool Skill requirements.
The capstone requirement may be met in one of the following ways:
| SPEA-V 600 | Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs (sections with an environmental focus) | (3 cr.) |
Or an approved alternative course with a similar structure. Current approved courses include:
| SPEA-E 517 | BMP Design for Healthy Urban Watersheds | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 546 | Stream Ecology | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 560 | Environmental Risk Analysis | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 790 | ISE Capstone Design I | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 791 | ISE Capstone Design II | (3 cr.) |
| or | Additional approved courses of a similar format |
MS-ES/ISE DUAL DEGREE CONCENTRATION / TRACK (at least 20 credit hours)
Courses taken for the concentration allow schools to acquire competency in tools, skills, methods, and approaches used in environmental science and intelligent systems engineering. Courses taken to fulfill requirements cannot be “double counted”
SPEA Environmental Science Electives
At least 6 credit hours must be selected from the following:
| SPEA-E 502 | Water Quality Modeling | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 514 | Changing Landscape of Toxic-Chemical Regulation | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 517 | BMP Design for Healthy Urban Watersheds | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 518 | Vector Based GIS | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 520 | Environmental Toxicology | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 529 | Application of Geographic Information Systems | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 534 | Restoration Ecology | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 540 | Wetlands Ecology and Management | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 542 | Hazardous Materials | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 545 | Lake and Watershed Management | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 546 | Stream Ecology | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 554 | Groundwater Flow Modeling | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Intro to Coding for Environment and Policy | (1 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Python Programming for Environment and Policy | (1 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Using R for Environment and Policy | (1 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 555 | Topics in Environmental Science (approved on an individual basis by an advisor) | (1-4 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 556 | Limnology | (4 cr.) |
| SPEA- E 560 | Environmental Risk Analysis | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 562 | Solid and Hazardous Waste Management | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-E 591 | Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources | (3 cr.) |
Intelligent Systems Engineering Electives
At least 11 credit hours must be selected from the following:
| ENGR-E 501 | Introduction to Computer Engineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 502 | Introduction to Cyberphysical Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 503 | Introduction to Intelligent Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 504 | Introduction to Bioengineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 505 | Introduction to Nanoengineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 506 | Introduction to Neuroengineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 510 | Engineering Distributed Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 511 | Machine Learning and Signal Processing | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 512 | Advanced Computer Architecture | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 513 | Engineering Compilers | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 514 | Embedded Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 516 | Engineering Cloud Computing | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 517 | High Performance Computing | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 518 | Engineering Networks | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 519 | Engineering Operating Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 522 | Sensors and Remote Sensing | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 523 | Internet of Things | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 525 | Robotics I | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 531 | Physical Optimization | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 532 | Systems Engineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 533 | Deep Learning Systems | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 534 | Big Data Applications | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 537 | Rapid Prototyping for Engineering | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 540 | Computational Methods for 3-D Biomaterials | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 541 | Simulating Cancer as an Intelligent System | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 551 | Nanoscale Simulation and Engineering Applications | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 565 | Image Processing for Medical Applications | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 583 | Information Visualization | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 584 | Scientific Visualization | (3 cr.) |
| ENGR-E 599 | Topics in Engineering | (1-3 cr.) |
Additional electives that may be used to meet the required total credit hours for the dual degree include any courses listed above not used to satisfy a degree requirement. Additional approved electives are included below from closely related disciplines. Courses not listed may be approved by an advisor with justification.
SPEA non-E courses
| SPEA-I 516 | Public Management Information Systems | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-I 519 | Database Management Systems | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-I 611 | Design of Information Systems | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-I 613 | Implementation of Information Systems | (3 cr.) |
| SPEA-P 507 | Data Analysis and Modeling for Public Affairs | (3 cr.) |
Geography courses
| GEOG-G 532 | Physical Climatology | (3 cr.) |
| GEOG-G 538 | Geographic Information Systems | (3 cr.) |
| GEOG-G 588 | Applied Spatial Statistics | (3 cr.) |
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences courses
| EAS-G 514 | Geophysical Signal Analysis | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 534 | Dynamic Meteorology: Synoptic to Global Scale | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 538 | Air Pollution Meteorology | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 540 | Physical Meteorology and Climatology | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 544 | Methods in Analytical Geochemistry | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 547 | Instrumentation for Atmospheric Science | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 548 | Sustainable Energy Systems | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 559 | Earth Surface Processes | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 564 | Dynamic Meteorology: Boundary-layer Meteorology | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 576 | Climate Change | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 594 | Numerical Weather Prediction | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 612 | Inverse Methods in Geophysics | (2 cr.) |
| EAS-G 690 | Advanced Geology Seminar, Mathematical Modeling in the Geosciences | (3 cr.) |
| EAS-G 690 | Advanced Geology Seminar, Fluvial Processes and Sediment Transport | (3 cr.) |
Biology / Biotech courses
| BIOL-B 572 | Photobiology | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 510 | Introduction to the Research Laboratory | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 519 | Bioinformatics: Theory and Application | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 522 | Advanced Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 523 | Critical Analysis of the Scientific Literature | (1-6 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 560 | Physiological Ecology | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 572 | Microbial Ecology | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 575 | Ecosystem Structure and Function | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-L 577 | Theoretical Ecology | (3 cr.) |
| BIOL-M 511 | Molecular Biology of Prokaryotes | (3 cr.) |
Informatics courses
| INFO-D 590 | Data Science Onramp (variable topics) | (1-3 cr.) |
| INFO-I 400/I590 | Environmental Policy, Health & Design | (3 cr.) |
| INFO-I 590 | Smart Cities | (3 cr.) |
Information and Library Science courses
| ILS-Z 503 | Representation and Organization | (3 cr.) |
| ILS-Z 510 | Introduction to Information Studies | (3 cr.) |
| ILS-Z 511 | Database Design | (3 cr.) |
| ILS-Z 512 | Information Systems Design | (3 cr.) |
Mathematics courses
| MATH-M 511/M 512 | Real Variable I & II | (3 cr.) |
| MATH-M 513/M 514 | Complex Variables I & II | (3 cr.) |
| MATH-M 540/M 541 | PDEs I & II | (3 cr.) |
| MATH-M 544/M 545 | ODEs I & II | (3 cr.) |
| MATH-M 571/M 572 | Numerical Methods I & II | (3 cr.) |
| MATH-M 671/M 672 | Numerical Differential and Integral Equations I & II | (3 cr.) |
Physics courses
| PHYS-P 555 | Quantum Computation and Information | (3 cr.) |
| PHYS-P 582 | Biological and Artificial Neural Networks | (3 cr.) |
| PHYS-P 583 | Signal Processing and Information Theory in Biology | (3 cr.) |
| PHYS-P 609 | Computational Physics | (3 cr.) |
| PHYS-P 610 | Computational Physics II | (3 cr.) |
Statistics courses
| STAT-S 501 | Statistical Methods I | (3 cr.) |
| STAT-S 503 | Statistical Methods II | (3 cr.) |
| STAT-S 520 | Introduction to Statistics | (3 cr.) |
| STAT-S 611 | Statistical Computing | (3 cr.) |
Chemistry courses
| CHEM-C 501 | Chemical Instrumentation | (3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 503 | Sptrometric Methods of Structure Determination | (3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 540 | Advanced Organic Chemistry | (3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 565 | Nuclear Chemistry | (3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 566 | Molecular Optical Spectroscopy | (3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 567 | Chmeical Statistical Mechanics | (3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 572 | Computational Chemistry and Molecular Modeling | (3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 611 | Electroanalytical Chemistry | (1.5-3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 612 | Spectrochemical Methods of Analysis | (1.5-3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 613 | Mass Spectrometryand Staple Isotopes | (1.5-3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 614 | Chromatography | (1.5-3 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 616 | Surface Analysis and Surface Chemistry | (1.5 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 633 | Inorganic Chemistry of Main Group Elements | (2 cr.) |
| CHEM-C 634 | Transition Metal Chemistry | (3 cr.) |