Master of Science in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences

Apply Now

Program Link:
https://environment.wsu.edu/graduate-studies/masters/
Program Handbook:
https://environment.wsu.edu/graduate-handbook/
Student Learning Outcomes:
https://environment.wsu.edu/graduate-studies/
Total Graduate Faculty in Program:
81
Total Core Graduate Faculty in Program:
34
Graduate Students in Program:
21
Students Receiving Assistantships:
20
Priority Deadlines:

  • Fall January 10th
  • Spring September 15th

Campus:

  • Pullman
  • Tri-Cities
  • Vancouver

International Student English Proficiency Exams

International students may need to surpass the Graduate School’s minimum English language proficiency exam scores for this program. If the graduate program has unique score requirements, they will be detailed below. Otherwise, please refer to the Graduate School’s minimum score guidelines.

  • 100 TOEFLI (internet) Minimum score
  • 600 TOEFL Minimum
  • 250 TOEFL (computer)

Additional Degree Program Admission Requirements

  • GRE No

Degree Description:

The M.S. degree is an interdisciplinary program offering the flexibility for elective classes in the student’s desired area of specialization. Areas of focus typically include wildlife ecology and endangered species conservation; spatial and ecological relationships of plants and animals in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, in-stream physical and biological processes, and vertebrate and invertebrate ecology of wetland, lake, estuarine, and marine systems, modeling and dynamics of ecological and environmental systems, population ecology and modeling, sustainable resource management including water resources, private land management, and analysis of policy impacts and the human dimensions of resource conservation.

The MS in ENRS offers a choice of two degree plans available at Pullman, Tri Cities, Vancouver, or Puyallup Campuses.

  1. The “Directed Studies” Plan is designed to provide maximum flexibility for faculty and graduate students to take advantage of the wide variety of disciplinary areas, campuses, and research centers included in SoE.  This plan has minimal specific requirements (i.e. ,1 credit of SOE 501 Graduate Skills Seminar), so that it may be tailored to meet the needs of individual students and take advantage of a wide variety of coursework from within and outside of SoE. Specific courses are selected in consultation with the thesis advisor and graduate committee.
  1. The “Interdisciplinary” Plan requires students to choose courses within distinct content areas, in addition to the required graduate seminar, to provide a general and well-rounded program in environmental and natural resource sciences, with the intent of l increasing interdisciplinary understanding and building cohorts of graduate students.

In addition to the two plans, students may choose between the thesis and non-thesis option.  For the thesis option, students complete a research project that results in a publishable product. Students selecting the non-thesis option will complete a smaller project and take more course credits.

If you are interested in pursuing an M.S. in ENRS in SoE and being mentored by one of our faculty members, begin by first visiting their website and contacting them directly.

Admission Requirements:

 

Before Applying 

If you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree under the advisement of one of our faculty members, start by visiting their website and contacting them directly.

To be considered for admission, you will first need to reach out to a potential faculty advisor and gain their support for your admission into your intended SOE degree. If you have reached out to a potential faculty advisor without securing their support, you will need to wait to apply until you have found an advisor and secured their support.

After You’ve Secured a Faculty Advisor

To apply to any of our campus locations, submit your application to the Graduate School at Washington State University (which is located at the Pullman Campus).

School of the Environment Graduate Admission Requirements:

  • A grade point average equivalent to a U.S. grade of “B” (3.0) or better is required
  • BA/BS degree in a related field (some prerequisite course work may be completed after admissions)
  • GRE tests requirement are waived until further notice.  If the application will not submit with blank boxes input 999 as a placeholder.
  • International applicants must have official language test scores submitted directly to the Graduate School (school code 4705) from the testing services. Any of the listed international language test scores will suffice.
  • Interested applicants will need to reach out to a potential graduate faculty member before applying to the Graduate School. A list of faculty can be found here. Admission into our graduate program is dependent upon a faculty member’s willingness to act as the student’s advisor in addition to basic academic requirements.

Applicants must submit the completed application form with the Graduate School required fee of $75. Applications must include a statement of professional goals, official transcripts of previous college work, and provide names, addresses, emails, and positions of three references (for letters of recommendation) supporting your application.

Applications for state/federally funded assistantships (if available) are evaluated starting in late January, with the first offers of admission sent around February for Fall admission. Applications for the Spring semester are evaluated starting on October 1, with the first acceptance notifications sent around November 1.

Questions about the admission process should be sent to Denise.Bickford@wsu.edu.

Contact Information: