Environmental and Sustainability Studies, M.S.
Charleston, USA
MSc
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Environmental and Sustainability Studies
Master of Science (37 Credit Hours)
This interdisciplinary program will prepare you for the challenges of a career in the environmental field. As a student of environmental policy, you’ll focus on the development and implementation of public policy responses to environmental issues, especially the economic, political and social factors that are an intrinsic part of the policymaking process. If you are more interested in the science behind policy issues, you’ll acquire a solid foundation based on the ways information should be used to assess environmental and societal risk and the relevant policies. Coursework is in environmental science and policy as is the laboratory work and field research.
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.
This interdisciplinary focus allows us to address a wide variety of resources, 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.
As an interdisciplinary program, the MES Program is not housed in a single academic department at the College of Charleston. Instead, six departments (Biology, Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Political Science, and Economics) contribute to the 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.
Program Requirements
- 38+ credit hours
- Thesis or internship
Core Courses
Environmental Studies:
- EVSS 611 Introduction to Environmental and Sustainability Studies (3)
Statistics:
- EVSS 659 Environmental Statistics (3)
- OR
- EVSS 624 Biometry (4)
Policy and Social Science:
- EVSS 601 Economic Theory for Policy Analysis (3)
- EVSS 602 Public Policy (3)
- EVSS 632 Social Science Methods in Environmental Studies (3)
Natural Science:
Select one of the following:
- EVSS 541 Pollution in the Environment (4)
- EVSS 610 Environmental Biology (3)
- EVSS 640 Earth Systems Science (3)
- EVSS 650 Energy Production and Resource Management (3)
Thesis/Internship:
- EVSS 690 Internship (6)
- OR
- EVSS 691 Thesis (6)
Electives
Students must complete the remaining credit hours from the following:
- BIOL 612 Conservation Genetics (4)
- BIOL 649 Comparative Genomics (4)
- BIOL 650 Seminar in Marine Biology (1)
- CPAD 615 Introduction to Urban Design (6)
- CPAD 830 Sustainable Design and Adaptive Reuse (6)
- EVSS 506 Conservation Biology (3)
- EVSS 518 History and Theory of American Urban Planning (3)
- EVSS 519 Biology of Coral Reefs (3)
- EVSS 530 Natural Resources Law and Policy (3)
- EVSS 531 Administrative Law (3)
- EVSS 534 Environmental Law and Regulatory Policy (3)
- EVSS 535 Land Use Law (3)
- EVSS 537 Wetlands Policy (3)
- EVSS 538 Introduction to Hydrogeology (4)
- EVSS 541 Pollution in the Environment (4)
- EVSS 542 Fundamentals of Remote Sensing (4)
- EVSS 544 Plant Ecology (4)
- EVSS 549 Geographic Information Systems (4)
- EVSS 551 Research and Management in Environmental Organizations (3)
- OR
- PUBA 551 Research and Management in Environmental Organizations (3)
- EVSS 557 Satellite Meteorology (3)
- EVSS 569 Advanced GIS: Environmental and Hazards Models (4)
- EVSS 595 Special Topics in Environmental and Sustainability Studies (1-4)
- EVSS 606 Wildlife Law (3)
- EVSS 608 Perspectives on Public Administration (3)
- EVSS 609 Administrative Ethics and Accountability (3)
- EVSS 610 Environmental Biology (3)
- EVSS 620 Physiology and Cell Biology of Marine Organisms (4)
- EVSS 622 Ecology of Marine Organisms (4)
- EVSS 623 Physical Oceanography (4)
- EVSS 624 Biometry (4)
- EVSS 627 Marine Tetrapod Biology (4)
- EVSS 639 Wetlands and Watersheds (3)
- EVSS 640 Earth Systems Science (3)
- EVSS 641 Aqueous Geochemistry (4)
- EVSS 645 Coastal Issues and Processes (3)
- EVSS 650 Energy Production and Resource Management (3)
- EVSS 656 Atmospheric Science (4)
- EVSS 658 Climate Change (4)
- EVSS 659 Environmental Statistics (3)
- EVSS 680 Case Studies in Environmental Issues (4)
- EVSS 693 Independent Study (1-4)
- EVSS 695 Special Topics in Environmental Studies (1-4)
- EVSS 721 Aquaculture (3)
- EVSS 722 Marine Invertebrate Zoology (4)
- EVSS 724 Ichthyology (4)
- EVSS 725 Marine Botany (4)
- EVSS 726 Fisheries Science (3)
- EVSS 746 Aquatic Toxicology (3)
- PUBA 502 Special Topics in Public Affairs Seminars (1-3) *
- PUBA 511 Urban Policy (3)
- PUBA 512 Females and Minorities in Public Administration (3)
- PUBA 513 Planning Law (3)
- PUBA 514 Urban Applications of Geographic Information Systems (4)
- PUBA 516 Local and Regional Economic Development: Policy and Practice (3)
- PUBA 517 Urban Transportation: Problems and Prospects (3)
- PUBA 520 Local Government Politics and Administration (3)
- PUBA 522 Intergovernmental Relations (3)
- PUBA 540 Leadership and Decision Making (3)
- PUBA 550 Nonprofit Leadership and Governance (3)
- PUBA 554 Human Resource Management for Non-Profit Organizations (3)
- PUBA 555 Nonprofit Capacity Building (3)
- PUBA 556 Fundraising and Marketing for Nonprofits (3)
- PUBA 557 Managing Public/Private Partnerships (3)
- SMFT 697 Special Topics in Science Or Mathematics for Teachers (1-4) *
Note:
*This course may be repeated for credit if the content is different. The specific content will be listed when the course is offered.
Transfer Credit Policy
A student may request approval from the program director to accept up to nine transfer credit hours. These courses require a grade of “B” or higher or a grade of “Satisfactory” or “Pass”.