The Master in Environmental Management (MEM) is a professional terminal degree, specifically focused on the content understanding and methods necessary to manage environmental organizations, public lands agencies, and communities towards sustainable solutions. The program emphasizes entrepreneurial and systems-thinking approaches to environmental issues associated with increasing climate disturbances, natural resource demands, and socio-economic insecurity. The MEM offers a “hybrid” learning environment for full-residency students rooted in the learning laboratories of the Gunnison Country, combined with a low-residency option for select environmental professionals from all over the world.
Program Goals
- Improving student understanding of environmental systems and services, of the human impact on those systems, and of the array of sustainable and resilient solutions to those impacts.
- Developing students’ capacities for interdisciplinary critical thinking, entrepreneurial innovation, and collaborative environmental problem-solving with diverse stakeholders.
- Enhancing career opportunities in environmentally related disciplines.
Student Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Understand the complex interactions among human, climate, and ecological systems.
- Access and evaluate information about environmental issues.
- Critically assess the fundamental elements of environmental problems.
- Develop and apply diverse management and adaptation strategies to solve environmental problems.
- Effectively communicate the complexity of environmental problems as well as appropriate solutions to diverse audiences.
- Collaborate with and build partnerships among diverse stakeholders in order to complete major environmental projects.
Program Prerequisites
(For admissions requirements for “3+2” programs, please refer to the guidelines outlined in the undergraduate academic catalog under ENVS, POLS, SOC, ROE, and BIOL)
- BA degree, BS degree, or Provisional Admittance to the graduate program is required.
- Minimum Prerequisites must be completed by end of first MEM Fall term:
- college-level statistics course.
- two college-level natural or environmental science courses (BIOL, GEOL, ENVS, PHYS, CHEM, SCI), at least one course with lab or field component.
- two college-level social science courses.
- Integrative and Public Land Management Recommended Prerequisites
- one upper-level Ecology course
- one GIS course
- Sustainable and Resilient Communities Recommended Prerequisites
- one course in Economics (Micro or Macro preferred)
- Financial Accounting
- Faculty Mentor may recommend further coursework or certifications for students to complete before Master’s Portfolio is due in Spring II, depending upon student career ambitions and professional career standards.
- Admissions Criteria: a holistic package balancing academic excellence with environmental leadership experience encouraged. Admissions packages will include: academic transcripts showing a recommended 3.0 undergraduate GPA or above in relevant courses; a portfolio outlining environmental employment, leadership and volunteer experience; a statement of purpose describing the student’s intellectual and professional interests in environmental management; and three letters of recommendation from professors or supervisors in related fields.
- Provisional Admission to the Master in Environmental Management Program: An applicant who does not meet the requirements for full admission to the Master in Environmental Management Program may be provisionally admitted or may be required to submit additional materials in order to be considered for provisional admission upon the recommendation of the program director and approval by the Dean of Graduate Studies. A provisionally admitted student will have a maximum of one calendar year to complete any pre-requisite academic coursework. The program director or Dean of Graduate Studies may set additional timeline requirements.
- International Students: see Graduate Academic Catalog section, Criteria for International Admission.
Program Requirements
A minimum of 46 credits is required for the MEM degree.
All MEM students must complete the 20-credit Core.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| ENVS 601 | Introduction to Environmental Management | 5 |
| ENVS 605 | Science for Environmental Management 2 | 3 |
| ENVS 608 | Environmental Politics and Policy | 3 |
| ENVS 611 | Integrative Skills for Environmental Management | 3 |
| ENVS 612 | Introduction to Analysis and Assessment for Environmental Management 2 | 3 |
| ENVS 615 | From Climate Science to Action | 3 |
| Total Credits | 20 | |
- 2
Students may take BIOL 606 Ecological Research Methods in lieu of ENVS 605 Science for Environmental Management and/or BIOL 613 Advanced Ecological Analysis in lieu of ENVS 612 Introduction to Analysis and Assessment for Environmental Management.
Integrative and Public Land Management Emphasis (beyond required Core courses)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENVS 618 | Public Lands Management | 3 |
| Select nine credits of the following (choose any combination within these areas): | 9 | |
| Studies in Environmental Management | ||
| Studies in Integrative and Public Land Management | ||
| Masters Project Requirement: | ||
| ENVS 690 | MEM Project Development | 5 |
| ENVS 694 | Master's Project and Portfolio 1 | 9 |
| Total Credits | 26 | |
- 1
Students must take 3 cr of ENVS 694 Master's Project and Portfolio Fall II and 6 cr of ENVS 694 Master's Project and Portfolio Spring II
Sustainable & Resilient Communities Emphasis (beyond required Core courses)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENVS 616 | Environmental Organization Development and Management | 3 |
| Select nine credits of the following: | 9 | |
| Studies in Sustainable and Resilient Communities | ||
| Studies in Environmental Management | ||
| Masters Project Requirement: | ||
| ENVS 690 | MEM Project Development | 5 |
| ENVS 694 | Master's Project and Portfolio 1 | 9 |
| Total Credits | 26 | |
- 1
Students must take 3 cr of ENVS 694 Master's Project and Portfolio Fall II and 6 cr of ENVS 694 Master's Project and Portfolio Spring II
Global Sustainability Emphasis (beyond required Core courses)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENVS 617 | Global Sustainability | 3 |
| Select nine credits of the following (choose any combination of global themes within these areas): | 9 | |
| Studies in Sustainable and Resilient Communities | ||
| Studies in Environmental Management | ||
| Studies in Integrative and Public Land Management | ||
| Masters Project Requirement: | ||
| ENVS 690 | MEM Project Development | 5 |
| ENVS 694 | Master's Project and Portfolio 1 | 9 |
| Total Credits | 26 | |