M.S. Conservation and Resource Management

Applications for Fall admission are due by June 1 of each year.

Enrollment normally begins in the fall semester; however spring admissions will be considered on a case by case situation. In addition to the general admissions requirements of the Graduate School, minimal requirements for admission in full standing to the MS Program in Marine Conservation and Resource Management are:

• A baccalaureate degree in a discipline related to marine sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and engineering) or conservation biology (economics, sociology) from an accredited four year college or university.

• An undergraduate minimum grade-point average of 3.0 overall (4.0 point system). In exceptional cases, applicants with at least a 2.5 GPA on all undergraduate work OR at least a 2.75 GPA on the last 60 hours of graduate work may be considered.

• The applicant will be required to submit:

  1. A completed application including a statement indicating the student's interests and professional goals.

  2. Official transcripts from all undergraduate institutions attended.

  3. GRE score is NOT required for admission.

     • You may optionally submit your GRE scores if you wish for them to be considered as part of your application to any graduate program in the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

     • Individual faculty members may consider available GRE scores as part of a holistic evaluation of the candidates.

Required Credit 
A minimum of thirty (30) semester hours of course credit beyond the baccalaureate degree is required for students pursuing an MS degree.

Details about the curriculum are provided on the following collapsible lists.

Transfer Credit
A maximum of twelve (12) semester hours of graduate courses taken at another accredited university in the same (or closely related) subject as that of the masters program may be considered as part of the MS degree requirements at USA.

• Only grades of "A" or "B" may be accepted as transfer credits.
• The School's Director or Associate Director will evaluate transfer credit; 
• The transfer credit is approved by the Dean of the Graduate School only after completion of a minimum of eight (8) semester hours of graduate work. 

Time Limit

All requirements for the MS degree must be completed within 2.5 years from the date of matriculation.

A student who has not satisfactorily completed a M.S. degree within the 2.5 year period must apply for a defined extension to complete the degree. 

The request must be recommended by one of the following:

• a major professor
• Director or Associate Director
• Director of Graduate Studies

The request must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School

Failure to complete the degree within the defined extension period may result in a recommendation of dismissal by the Director of Graduate Studies to the Graduate Dean.

A key element of the program is completion of one of the following. The requirements for these options are below. :

1) participation in a professional internship.

We recommend that students pursue the internship route in order to develop professional experience. To fulfill the requirements of the program by performing an internship, a student must perform an internship of approximately 6-month duration working 20 hours a week (approximately 480 hours of internship) in the field of Marine Conservation and Resource Management. 

2) completion of a capstone research project

In some cases, students may opt for a capstone research project. A capstone project provides an opportunity to go more in depth on a topic to address the complex problems facing marine and coastal systems. With the help of a faculty mentor and the Graduate Coordinator, a student pursuing the capstone project will design and perform a project to resolve a problem related to conservation and/or resource management. The project shall result in a paper of modest length (about the length of a journal article). 

3) fulfilling requirements for an approved graduate certificate.

Graduate certificate tracks must be approved by Graduate Coordinator. These require the completion of key courses in each discipline.

Students may complete a graduate certificate and an internship or capstone but are not required to do so.

Course work taken towards a graduate certificate may count towards elective and directed studies requirements with approval from the Stokes School of Marine & Environmental Sciences Director or Associate Director.

• All students must complete the four (4) courses of the program. 

• At least two (2) statistics courses are required for the program.

  • If you did not have statistics as an undergraduate, ST 540 or other statistics course approved by the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Director or Associate Director must be taken. 

• Two (2) seminar courses are required.

• The remaining six (6) credit should be met through elective courses that are approved by the Graduate Coordinator. 

Core Courses
Course Number	Course Name	Credit Hours
MAS 510	Oceanography and Marine Bio	3
MAS 520	Natural Resource Management	3
MAS 521	Marine Conservation Biology	3
SY 567	Environmental Sociology	3
Statistics Courses (Select 2)
Course Number	Course Name	6 hours
MAS 560	Mar Exp Eco
ST 540	Stat in Research I
ST 550	Environmental Statistics
ST 560	Appl Design & Analysis of Ex
Seminars
Course Number	Course Name	Credit Hours
MAS 592	Seminar	1
GIS 501	Responsible Conduct of Research	1
Directed Studies
Course Number	Course Name	Credit Hours
MAS 594	Directed Studies Part 1	4

Select two elective courses, at least one must be outside MAS to fulfill interdisciplinary requirement of program

 

MAS Elective Courses
Select two courses, one of which must be outside MAS.
Course Code	Course Name
MAS 525	Chemical Ecology
MAS 551	Quantitative Methods in Fisheries in Ecology
MAS 555	Fisheries Oceanography
MAS 560	Mar Exp Ecol
MAS 575	Marine Ecosystem Modeling
MAS 581	Advanced Marine Ecology
MAS 583	Field Marine Science I
MAS 584	Oceanographic Experience
MAS 588	Field Marine Science II
MAS 590	Special Topics
MAS 601	Physical Oceanography
MAS 602	Chemical Oceanography
MAS 603	Geological Oceanography
MAS 604	Biological Oceanography
Non-MAS Elective Courses
Course Code	Course Name
BLY 520	Biometry
CE 579	Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
CH 514/Ch 514L	Environmental Chemistry with Lab
ENS 521	Environmental Policy
ENS 590	Special Topics
GIT 520	Computer Applications in Earth Sciences
GIT 560	Remote Sensing II
GIT 561	Environmental GIS
GIT 562	Web Mapping & Online GIS Applications
GIT 563	GIS for Business and Urban Analysis
ST 540	Stat in Research I
ST 545	Stat in Research II
ST 550	Environmental Statistics
PHA 643	Molecular and Cellular Toxicology