MEES Curriculum
Are you interested in more than one scientific specialty? Then the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES) Program is for you. In the MEES Program, you will be trained to conduct research, integrate ideas and apply scientific knowledge to help solve pressing environmental problems.
Solutions to environmental problems are interdisciplinary and your graduate degree should be too.
Environmental science is an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor, but this term does not have the same meaning to everyone. The comprehensive scope and flexibility of our new MEES curriculum leverages the full breadth of environmental sciences at partner campuses across the University System of Maryland, from the social sciences to molecular ecology. This provides students with a highly personalized training. Students work closely with faculty to develop an individually tailored program of study en route to a research-based master's or doctoral degree. All students receive training in quantitative approaches and professional development, and are exposed to a variety of interdisciplinary issues. In all cases, you will learn to synthesize the best environmental science approaches in your own unique way to address the world’s most difficult environmental problems. MEES alumni enter a diversity of fields in academia, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and private industry.
The MEES curriculum provides a balance of disciplinary strength and interdisciplinary perspective, designed for environmental issues in the 21st century. The MEES Curriculum is designed around four interdisciplinary Foundational Areas: 1) Environment, Health and Society; 2) Earth and Ocean Sciences; 3) Ecological Systems, and 4) Environmental Molecular Science and Technology. Students begin their academic training by taking the appropriate introductory Foundation course. Then, with the guidance of their advisory committee, students select additional elective courses that are specific to the student's interests. These courses may remain within their chosen Foundation or incorporate elements of other Foundations. There are numerous elective courses that can be taken to meet each student's diverse interests and study focus. Students also take several professional development courses and participate in issue study groups. Click the images below for more information.
MEES leverages the expertise of faculty from five universities; the University of Maryland, College Park; University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Classes are offered using interactive video technology so that courses from the different universities can be accessed by students.