The MS in environmental science and policy meets the increasing need for trained environmental professionals who can address the problems of land and water management, land use and urbanization, wetland loss, microbial ecology, bioremediation, conservation biology, and ecosystem preservation. These professionals will also contribute to the analysis and resolution of global problems, such as deforestation, insufficient world food supplies, acid deposition, population growth and public health, global climate change/warming, and depletion of the stratospheric ozone. Areas of specific departmental focus include ecosystems; conservation; environmental biocomplexity; molecular ecology; sustainability science; environmental policy and management and human/environmental interactions.
Environmental problems are defined in the real world and do not necessarily conform to traditional academic disciplines. As such, solutions require creative combinations of diverse interests and subjects. Effective training requires rigorous, problem-focused interdisciplinary action in a setting in which research is an essential element supporting instruction.
Five concentrations are available in the master’s program: environmental science and policy, conservation science and policy, environmental biocomplexity, Earth surface processes and environmental geochemistry, and environmental management. The first four concentrations, designed for students who wish to obtain a research oriented master’s degree, serve as a training ground for students wishing to further their education by pursuing the PhD in environmental science and public policy at Mason or doctoral programs at other universities. The environmental science and policy concentration is the largest and serves as a home for a broad array of research foci. The conservation science and policy concentration is designed to be an interdisciplinary, research-oriented degree focusing on the conservation of threatened species and habitats, integrating biological sciences and the human dimensions of conservation practice. The environmental biocomplexity concentration is designed for students who wish to obtain a research-oriented master’s degree in population genetics, microbial ecology, and molecular systematics. The concentration in Earth surface processes and environmental geochemistry provides a specific research focus in the Earth science area.
The environmental management concentration serves as a terminal professional master’s degree for individuals working in or aspiring to work as managers in the environmental field in government or private industry. It combines the managerial and administrative skills developed in a traditional master of public administration degree program with the scientific knowledge and understanding normally found in a master of science degree.
This program of study is offered by the Department of Environmental Science and Policy in the College of Science.
This has been designated a Green Leaf program. For further information, please go to Green Leaf Programs and Courses.
