Learn to tackle some of today’s most pressing environmental challenges with a master’s in environmental science and management from Portland State University. You’ll gain the knowledge, skills, and real-world experience to understand and address critical issues like climate change, habitat loss, and water and resource management.
We offer three degree programs. You can tailor your education based on what you’re most interested in and where you want your career to take you:
- Master of Science (MS): Conduct original research in the lab or field and produce a thesis on a topic of interest, preparing you for a career in research or further graduate-level work.
- Master of Environmental Management (MEM): Partner with a local agency or organization on a culminating hands-on project that addresses basic or applied research questions, identifies best practices or makes site-specific management recommendations.
- Professional Science Master (PSM): Earn credentials along the way with the completion of two graduate certificates, and apply what you’ve learned to a capstone project or internship, helping solve a real environmental problem.
Whichever degree you choose, you’ll graduate ready to address relevant and urgent environmental challenges.
Admission Details
PSU’s location in the heart of downtown Portland gives you access to a variety of environmental agencies and organizations. These include the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, and The Nature Conservancy. It’s through these partnerships that you’ll be able to put into practice what you’re learning and build your network.
In your classes, we’ll equip you with the expertise and skills to become scientists and managers who are able to analyze and understand environmental systems, predict environmental change, and take part in managing the environment.
In our MS and MEM programs, you’ll get broad exposure to the field. You’ll take core courses in physical environmental processes, ecological processes, and environmental management before diving into a concentration of your choice. You’ll also gain technical training in environmental data analysis.
Our PSM degree combines a rigorous science-based curriculum with practical professional skills for the workplace. You can take classes on project management, communications, regulations, and professional ethics.
Throughout your program, you’ll have the support of our expert faculty. Become part of a community of peers who are as passionate as you about making an impact in the environment.
When you join our program, you’ll be part of PSU’s School of Earth, Environment and Society. This new school focuses on interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research that addresses the most pressing and complex issues facing the planet, and the people who call it home.
Demand for environmental scientists and specialists is projected to grow 7 percent from 2023 to 2033, faster than the average for all jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With a master’s degree in environmental science and management, you'll graduate with the knowledge, skills, and experience you need to make an impact in environmental policy, ecosystem conservation and restoration, environmental monitoring and assessment, and more.
Our graduates go on to work in federal and state agencies, city and county governments, non-governmental organizations, environmental consulting firms, and industry partners. Recent alumni have found jobs as hydrologists, environmental planners, GIS analysts, and specialists in air pollution, water resources, environmental protection, and natural resources. Other students have continued into doctoral programs in environmental science and related fields.