Applicants must first meet the Graduate Admission Standards for pre-candidacy as described on page 10 of the Graduate Bulletin. Once admitted for pre-candidacy by the University Graduate Studies office, they may then apply for admission to the Environmental Science Program.  In addition to the materials submitted for admission to pre-candidacy, applicants must submit the following to the Environmental Science Graduate Program Recruiting and Admission Committee: three letters of recommendation, a comprehensive statement of academic achievements, interests, professional goals, and specific reasons for pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science.  Application packages are first evaluated by the Recruiting and Admission Committee, based on the submitted materials and the Background and Performance Requirements specified below.  The Recruiting and Admission Committee recommends acceptance or rejection of the application to the Program Chair.  Upon approval by the Chair, the applicant is admitted to the program.

The Environmental Science Program is built around three component disciplines: Biology-Ecology, Geoscience-Engineering, and Management.  Applicants are expected to have backgrounds related to at least one of these three disciplines. Related backgrounds are broadly defined.  For example, for Biology-Ecology, related disciplines include all the various sub-disciplines of biology and of other life sciences, such as physiology, biochemistry, or genetics; the health sciences; and agricultural, animal, and plant sciences.  Disciplines related to Geosciences-Engineering include the physical and natural sciences, particularly physics, chemistry, and the earth, oceanographic, and atmospheric sciences.  Relevant disciplines also include engineering and applied sciences, particularly civil or mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, statistics, and computer science.  Management-related backgrounds include economics, business, management, law, or public administration, political science, and human, economic, or political geography. Applicants with other backgrounds, especially with interdisciplinary training or experience, who have completed the recommended prerequisites listed below or can provide other evidence of their ability to successfully complete the core course requirement and a research or professional project on an appropriate topic, will be considered as well.

The recommended prerequisites listed below represent the ideal background preparation for each component discipline.  It is acknowledged, however, that capable students from any given undergraduate major may not necessarily have completed the full suite of courses listed.  Any of the listed prerequisites may therefore be waived by the Program Chair on the recommendation of the Recruiting and Admission Committee, based on its confidence that the applicant will nevertheless be able to successfully complete the core requirements (described in the section titled “Degree Requirements,” below).  Applicants who have taken the prerequisite courses listed below, however, should have no grade lower than a C in any of the courses listed for their discipline of interest. An applicant who does not meet these grade criteria may be admitted to the program on a provisional basis, however, if a faculty member agrees to serve as his or her advisor.  Full admission may be granted by the Program Chair on the recommendation of the Recruiting & Admission Committee after such a student has completed 12 hours of environmental science courses approved in advance by the student’s advisor, with grades of B or better in each of them, and has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Recruiting and Admission Committee and the Program Chair that he or she has remedied whatever deficiencies the committee identified when it recommended provisional admission. 

Recommended disciplinary prerequisites

Biology-Ecology

Math: 2 semesters calculus

Physics: 1 semester general physics with lab

Chemistry: 2 semesters inorganic chemistry with lab and 2 semesters organic chemistry with lab

Biology: 2 semesters of general biology with lab

Geosciences-Engineering

Math: 2 semesters calculus

Physics: 2 semesters general physics with lab

Chemistry: 2 semesters general chemistry with lab

Biology: 1 semester biological/life science

Management 

Math: 2 semesters calculus

Physics: 1 semester general physics

Chemistry: 1 semester general chemistry

Biology: 1 semester biological/life science