Online Education (master Of Science In Environmental Science)

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Master of Environmental Science & Sustainability Degrees

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field of study of the environment and solution to environmental problems and sustainability. Individuals with master's degrees in this field work on problems such as global climate change, pollution control, natural resource management, and more. Each of the following schools confers degrees in enviromental science or similar subjects.

Students are encouraged to gain practical field experience through an internship at one or more of the many public and private environmental organizations in the Washington, DC area. Students have opportunities to conduct research with faculty in the department, associated and affiliated faculty at AU, or at one of the many renowned research institutions in the area.
Graduates will be prepared to engage in high-level, environmental problem solving. Typical positions our graduates hold are with the Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Science Foundation, although some move on to PhD programs in environmental science.

The ...
... curriculum for the Master of Science in Environmental Sciences is designed to allow students to gain strong scientific understanding of ways to study, evaluate, and interpret environmental realities and their impacts, as well as to manage and mitigate environmental problems. Objectives are to enable students to:

develop a basic literacy in the natural and social sciences and the humanities as they contribute to an understanding of environmental issues;
critically analyze environmental problems;
identify, research, and evaluate environmental problems;
provide focused development of research skills in one or more of the physical, chemical, and/or biological systems in the environment; and
compare, contrast, implement, and manage short- and long-term solutions to environmental problems.

There is one concentration available: general environmental sciences.The department recommends that students entering environmental sciences have a knowledge of organic chemistry, algebra, statistics, and biology. The general sciences concentration provides students with competency in research and management of interactions among physical, chemical, and biological systems in the environment.

Because Environmental Studies faculty consider that a period of time working in an environmental agency or organization can be a vital part of professional training, students may, with their advisor’s permission, count up to four hours of ENS 530 Internship and one hour of GPSI internship seminar toward their Environmental Sciences degree.

The environment is a complex of biological, geological, physical, chemical, social and cultural factors that interact to influence the life of an individual or community. Our environment is threatened by global issues, such as overpopulation, global climate change, and habitat fragmentation. Many of these are issues caused by humans, and in turn they are threatening the very well being of humans. The problems we face today are not solvable by science alone, but by an equal discovery and knowledge of culture, sociology, economics, politics and ethics. The Master of Science in Environmental Science provides an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the environment.
Environmental Science Admission Requirements

An acceptable bachelor’s degree from an institution whose degree requirements are substantially equivalent to those of the College of Staten Island or other senior units of The City University of New York. Ordinarily, this would be a bachelor’s degree in a natural science or in engineering.
An overall average of B minus, or the equivalent, in undergraduate work and an average of B, or the equivalent, in undergraduate science and engineering courses. The undergraduate credits must include at least one year each of general chemistry and general physics, mathematics through differential and integral calculus, and at least one semester of ecology. Candidates who are deficient in one or more of these requirements may be accepted on the expectation that they will make up the deficiency without receiving graduate credit for it.
An interview with faculty of the graduate program.
The applicant is ordinarily required to submit the results of the General Aptitude Test of the Graduate Record Examination. Applicants should apply directly to the Educational Testing Service, Box 955, Princeton, NJ 08540, to take the tests. Applicants should take these examinations no later than February for fall admission and July for spring admission.

5. The MES Program at the College of Charleston has been designed to provide students with an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems through graduate level studies of both Policy and Science.
6. Graduating Students - Click here for Internship/Thesis forms
7. This interdisciplinary focus allows us to address a wide variety of the resource, development, and planning pressures that currently face society. Through our core and elective course curriculum, faculty expertise, and specialization development (the clustering of courses in areas such as coastal and wetlands management, environmental planning, and environmental hazards), the MES Program provides training that addresses each of these challenges. Our alumni are finding employment in a wide variety of fields, where their training in both Science and Policy serves them well.
8. As an interdisciplinary program, the MES Program is not housed in a single academic department at the College of Charleston. Instead, five departments (Biology, Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, and Political Science) contribute core and elective coursework and faculty time to the program. Faculty from many other departments and off-campus institutes and agencies are an invaluable part of the MES Program as well.
9. MES and MPA Dual Degree Program
10. Students in the MES Program may participate in a dual degree program with the Master of Public Administration program at the College of Charleston, receiving two master's degrees in three years rather than four, with a focus on sustainability issues.

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