Master of Science with Major in Environmental Science
This interdisciplinary program is designed to provide students with specialized training in Environmental Science. All the departments in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters participate in the program, as do several other colleges at Florida Atlantic University.
Students are required to take their coursework spread across the four core subject areas and electives listed below. The exact courses taken are to be determined by students and their advisory committees. The application deadlines are January 15 for the fall semester and October 1 for the spring semester. The FAU Graduate College uses the online GradCAS system for all applications.
Complete the form to learn more about earning your M.S. in Environmental Science at Florida Atlantic. |
Admissions Requirements
Admission will be based upon your academic record (3.0 average on the last 60 hours of undergraduate credits or established graduate-level proficiency), your personal statement, and three letters of recommendation (including the FAU faculty sponsor).
Potential students (both non-thesis and thesis) must have a faculty "sponsor" from within Florida Atlantic University, who will then act as the student’s advisor for thesis students until a thesis topic has been chosen. The faculty sponsor and two additional references will submit their letters of recommendation directly through the GradCAS application system.
For sponsor selection suggestions, contact Program Assistant, Cynthia Berman, at envirosci@fau.edu, Program Director, Michelle Petersen, at mpeter45@fau.edu, or go to the departmental web pages to examine the fields and interests of individual faculty. When you find a faculty member in your field of interest, contact them directly.
Thesis Option
A student curriculum consists of a minimum of 36 graduate credits taken in the following six categories:
Environmental Science Colloquium Series (EVS 6920): 2 credits. This course is currently only offered in the fall semester. Students must take EVS 6920 during their first fall semester.
Fundamentals of Environmental Research (EVS 6917): 1 credit. This course is currently only offered in the spring semester. Students must take EVS 6917 during their first spring semester.
Data Science: 3 credits. Students must take either GIS 6306, PCB 6456 or URP 6211.
Electives: 21-24 graduate credits with no more than 12 credits per course prefix and no more than 15 credits per department. Required courses do not count toward department credit limit.
Environmental Science Directed Independent Study (EVS 6905) or Directed Independent Research in Environmental Science (EVS 6916): Up to 3 graduate credits combined may be counted toward this degree.
Thesis: 6-9 credits (EVS 6971).
Degree requirements may change. Students must either: 1) fulfill the requirements in effect during the first semester they are enrolled in the program, or 2) they may choose to fulfill the requirements in effect during the semester they graduate. The FAU University Catalog is the only official source for determining degree requirements.
Non-Thesis Option
A student curriculum consists of a minimum of 36 graduate credits taken in the following five categories:
Environmental Science Colloquium Series (EVS 6920): 2 credits.
Fundamentals of Environmental Research (EVS 6917): 1 credit.
Data Science: 3 credits. Students must take either GIS 6306, PCB 6456 or URP 6211.
Electives: 27 graduate credits with no more than 12 credits per course prefix and no more than 15 credits per department. Required courses do not count toward department credit limit.
Directed Independent Study (EVS 6905) or Directed Independent Research (EVS
6916): 3 credits combined.
Degree requirements may change. Students must either: 1) fulfill the requirements in effect during the first semester they are enrolled in the program, or 2) they may choose to fulfill the requirements in effect during the semester they graduate. The FAU University Catalog is the only official source for determining degree requirements.
| Departmental Courses: No more than 15 total credits from any one department, and no more than 12 credits from any one prefix. | ||
| Biological Sciences | ||
| Flora of South Florida | BOT 5155 | 3 |
| Flora of South Flora Laboratory | BOT 5155L | 3 |
| Plant Ecology | BOT 6169C | 3 |
| Advanced Plant Physiology | BOT 6505 | 3 |
| Advanced Plant Physiology Lab | BOT 6505L | 3 |
| Symbiosis | BSC 6355 | 3 |
| Scientific Communication | BSC 6846 | 3 |
| Chemistry for Environmental Scientists | CHS 6611 | 3 |
| Data Processing and Modeling of Marine Systems | OCB 6673 | 3 |
| Natural History of the Indian River Lagoon | OCB 6810 | 3 |
| Marine Global Change | OCE 6019 | 3 |
| Conservation Biology | PCB 6045 | 3 |
| Advanced Ecology | PCB 6046 | 3 |
| Freshwater Ecology | PCB 6307 | 3 |
| Freshwater Ecology Laboratory and Field Studies | PCB 6307L | 3 |
| Marine Ecology | PCB 6317 | 3 |
| Marine Ecology Laboratory and Field Studies | PCB 6317L | 3 |
| Experimental Design and Biometry | PCB 6456 | 3 |
| Environmental Physiology | PCB 6749 | 3 |
| Marine Invertebrate Zoology | ZOO 6256 | 3 |
| Marine Invertebrate Zoology Lab | ZOO 6256L | 3 |
| Natural History of Fishes | ZOO 6456 | 3 |
| Natural History of Fishes Lab | ZOO 6456L | 3 |
| Seminar in Ichthyology | ZOO 6459 | 3 |
| Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering | 3 | |
| Soil Stabilization and Geosynthetics | CEG 6124 | 3 |
| Open-Channel Hydraulics | CWR 6235 | 3 |
| Sustainability and Pollution Prevention | ENV 6932 | 3 |
| Curriculum and Instruction | ||
| Advanced Methods of Environmental Education | SCE 6344 | 3 |
| Perspectives of Environmental Education | SCE 6345 | 3 |
| Trends and Issues in Environmental Education | SCE 6644 | 3 |
| Geosciences | ||
| Environmental Restoration | EVR 6334 | 3 |
| Restoration Implementation and Management | EVR 6358 | 3 |
| Paleoenvironments and People | EVR 6417 | 3 |
| Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction | EVR 6931 | 3 |
| Human-Environmental Interactions | GEA 6277 | 3 |
| Biogeography | GEO 5305 | 3 |
| Plants and People | GEO 6317 | 3 |
| Culture, Conservation and Land Use | GEO 6337 | 3 |
| Digital Image Analysis | GIS 5033C | 3 |
| Remote Sensing of the Environment | GIS 5038C | 3 |
| Principles of Geographic Information Systemes | GIS 5051C | 3 |
| Applications of Geographic Information Systems | GIS 5100C | 3 |
| Programming in Geographic Information Systems | GIS 5103C | 3 |
| Photogrammetry and Aerial Photography Interpretation | GIS 6028C | 3 |
| LIDAR Remote Sensing and Applications | GIS 6032C | 3 |
| Advanced Remote Sensing | GIS 6039 | 3 |
| Topics in Geoinformation Science | GIS 6120 | 3 |
| Hyperspectral Remote Sensing | GIS 6127 | 3 |
| Spatial Data Analysis | GIS 6306 | 3 |
| Environmental Geochemistry | GLY 5243 | 3 |
| Environmental Geophysics | GLY 5457 | 3 |
| Shore Erosion and Protection | GLY 5575C | 3 |
| Marine Geology | GLY 5736C | 3 |
| Advanced Topics in Applied, Coastal and Hydrogeology | GLY 5934 | 3 |
| Advanced Environmental Geochemistry | GLY 6246 | 3 |
| Coastal Environments | GLY 6737 | 3 |
| Global Environmental Change | GLY 6746 | 3 |
| Modeling Groundwater Movement | GLY 6836 | 3 |
| Methods in Hydrogeology | GLY 6838 | 3 |
| Coastal Hazards | GLY 6888 | 3 |
| Benchmark Developments in Hydrogeology | GLY 6897 | 3 |
| Urban and Regional Planning | 3 | |
| Statistics for Urban Planning | URP 6211 | 3 |
| Introduction to GIS in Planning | URP 6270 | 3 |
| Managing GIS Ptojects | URP 6272 | 3 |
| Sustainable Cities | URP 6406 | 3 |
| Environmental Analysis and Planning | UPR 6425 | 3 |
| Environmental Policy and Programs | URP 6429 | 3 |
| Transportation Planning | URP 6711 | 3 |
| Urban and Regional Theory | URP 6840 | 3 |
| Women, Gender and Sexuality | ||
| Women, Environment, Ecofeminism, Environmental Justice | WST 6348 | 3 |