The Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) is an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, Masters Degree program designed for students who are seeking professional environmental positions in areas other than research.

The MESM program is normally completed in 16-21 months of full-time study. Part-time students are welcome, but require a longer time to complete the curriculum. It is considered to be a terminal degree. Students who plan to go on for a Ph.D. should enroll in the Master of Science in Environmental Sciences degree program. The MESM degree program serves graduate students from 7 departments within URI's College of the Environment and Life Sciences (CELS):

• Landscape Architecture
• Environmental & Natural Resource Economics
• Fisheries, Animal, and Veterinary Science
• Geosciences
• Marine Affairs
• Natural Resources Science
• Plant Sciences

Each MESM degree candidate shall enroll in one of the following 6 specialization tracks. Each specialization has unique course requirements and faculty advisors drawn from 2 or more CELS departments.

 Conservation Biology

 Earth and Hydrologic Science

 Environmental Policy & Management

 Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis

 Sustainable Systems

 Wetland, Watershed, and
       Ecosystem Science

For more information about the MESM, visit the program web site at www.edc.uri.edu/mesm.

If you have additional questions please contact the MESM Program Coordinators Dr. Peter August at pete@edc.uri.edu or Dr. Arthur Gold at agold@uri.edu, (401) 874–2026.

This specialization prepares students for professional positions in the science and management of the earth's biological diversity. They may concentrate studies in ecological aspects of applied conservation biology, management of biodiversity, or economics and policy aspects of conservation biology.

Students take courses in plant and animal biology, ecology, and biodiversity analysis and management, as well as numerical methods and social sciences.

Graduates find employment with federal and state resource management and regulatory agencies, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and private environmental consulting firms.

This specialization focuses on the study of earth sciences at multiple scales. It gives students insight into the structure and process in earth systems, stresses the understanding of earth and hydrologic hazards and the application of earth science to management issues, and provides them with tools for effectively communicating how to live with the natural environment.

Students concentrate their studies in one of the following:

Earth surface processes, including coastal hazards and landscape development during and after deglaciation;
Soil-landscape relationships and applied pedology;
Hydrogeology, including groundwater and surface water processes, contaminant transport and cleanup, and modeling;
Solid earth materials and processes, including natural hazards, mineral resources, and forensic science;
Geoarcheology, including sources of lithic materials and paleoclimates;
Paleoenvironments of dinosaur-bearing rocks.

Complementary background knowledge in spatial analysis (GIS) is strongly suggested. Required coursework comes from the areas of: earth surface processes, hydrology, earth materials, spatial analysis, and numerical methods, as well as environmental economics, policy, planning, and law.

Graduates find employment with federal and state resource management and regulatory agencies, private environmental consulting firms, academic laboratories, and nongovernmental conservation organizations.

This interdisciplinary track prepares students for positions requiring an ability to integrate natural science into policy development and implementation affecting ecosystems, landscapes, land use and development, environmental regulation of industry, and conservation of biological diversity or environmental quality.

Students take coursework in social sciences, such as policy and economics; and natural sciences such as geology, hydrology, soil science, conservation ecology, remote sensing, or spatial analysis.

Graduates are prepared for careers in federal, state, or municipal government, nonprofit organizations, and private consulting firms requiring professionals who can bring science to bear on policy and management solutions that succeed in a modern political and economic setting.

This specialization provides students with technical skills required to use state-of-the-art mapping technologies, such as geographic information systems (GIS), and cutting-edge data systems, such as those provided by satellite and aerial remote sensing and global positioning systems (GPS), for the analysis and presentation of environmental data.

Students master a large and diverse suite of technical tools in geospatial data analysis. These can be used to solve practical problems in watershed modeling, ecosystem science, wildlife ecology, water resource management, landscape ecology, pollution control, conservation biology, and land use/land cover dynamics.

Students take a core of basic and advanced courses in remote sensing and GIS, where they learn to use modern mapping technologies. Additional coursework provides them with practical instruction in how GIS and remote sensing are applied in environmental analysis and basic research.

Graduates find employment with public- and private-sector agencies, firms, and organizations that use computerized mapping technologies for natural resource management and environmental protection.

This specialization focuses on the science and management of designed and domesticated ecosystems. Graduates have a strong understanding of the functional dynamics of an ecosystem, comprehensive appreciation of ecosystem responses to manipulation, and the ability to link ecosystem processes to human and environmental health and economic output.

Students may concentrate efforts toward understanding terrestrial, aquacultural, or environmental impact and system function. Expertise is developed in production of food, fiber, ornamental, and utility products from domesticated systems and the potential interactions with natural enemies and indigenous species.

Coursework addresses natural ecosystem functions, management of designed ecosystems, numerical methods, environmental policy, land use planning, environmental law, and economics.

Graduates find employment with private-sector firms in the production of food, fiber, ornamental, and utility products from domesticated systems and have ample opportunity with government advisory and regulatory agencies.

This specialization focuses on the science and management of ecosystems at all scales from landscape to interstitial. Students may concentrate studies in the ecology, management, and conservation of inland or coastal wetlands; in watershed science and management, particularly land use-water quality interactions, in the ecology and management of forests for human use and biodiversity, or in soil ecology, including bioremediation of organic pollutants.

Students take courses from four key areas: ecosystem science and management; earth science, soils, and spatial analysis, statistics, and environmental planning, policy, law, and economics.

Graduates find employment with federal and state resource management and regulatory agencies, municipal government, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and private environmental consulting firms.