Required Courses

Students in the MSEM program are required to take the following:

• ENVS 801.3 – Ecosystem Science and Sustainability - An introduction to how principles and concepts of ecology and ecosystems science are applied to advance environmental sustainability. Students will gain a solid understanding of how natural systems function, how scientists apply their understanding and uncertainties about ecosystems to address environmental management problems and advance environmental sustainability.
• ENVS 802.3 – Human Dimensions of Environmental Change - This course explores the past and present interactions between people and the natural world. It addresses ways that environment has molded human societies and ways that people have altered nature. Contemporary concerns for environmental sustainability are introduced by examining human entanglement with a range of natural and modified systems.
• ENVS 804.3 – Decision-making for Environment and Sustainability - Intended to enhance students' professional and scholarly effectiveness, this course introduces an interdisciplinary approach to environmental conservation problems (from the policy sciences) that enables them to critically appraise and constructively engage with environmental and sustainability policy processes, and develop functional understanding of conventional institutional approaches to environmental management and new emergent approaches.
• ENVS 805.3 – Environmental Data Analysis and Management - Environmental data management is complex because of its volume, qualitative and quantitative forms, and temporal and spatial characteristics. This course introduces students to statistical, qualitative, and visual methods of problem solving and data reduction and representation and describes methods for managing large and complex data sets.

MSEM students are also required to register in:

• ENVS 990 Seminar in Environment and Sustainability (no credit unit)
• ENVS 992.6 Project in Environment and Sustainability - Project in Environment and Sustainability is a requirement of the Master of Sustainable Environmental Management (MSEM) degree, and accessible only to those students.  Intended to permit students to build upon skills gained through the course component of their program, the project gives an opportunity to further investigate an aspect of environment and sustainability of particular interest and in a manner which contributes to their professional development.

To meet the completion requirements for ENVS 990, graduate students must attend and contribute to the seminar.

Research projects are identified or defined in consultation with the Graduate Chair and the MSEM Coordinator, and can take a variety of forms, including a thorough review or assessment, a proposal for policy change, a case study, an evaluation of a management practice or system, or a modeling exercise.  Students will be required to present their project proposals to their peers and to faculty.

Students who began their programs in September 2010 should contact the Irene Schwalm, SENS Graduate Secretary, regarding program requirements.

Students must complete the MSEM program within five years, beginning from their first term of registration, excluding any periods of approved leave.