Master of Science [M.S] [Environmental Policy and Management-Capstone Option (Environmental Planning)] From American Public University

This degree provides the student with curriculum and research opportunities in one of the world’s most significant science and policy issues: the environment. Students will study ecosystems management, the impact of industrialization on the environment, economics and resource availability, regulation and law, environmental ethics, landscape-level conservation, political ecology, and environmental technology and management.

The students also have the opportunity to focus on several emerging fields of study, including global environmental change, environmental planning, and environmental sustainability, as well as to explore a general study option. This degree is applicable for government and industry environmentally related professions. It also can serve as a foundation degree for study at the doctorate level in related fields.

EVSP699 - Master's Capstone Seminar in Environmental Policy and Management

The Master's Capstone Seminar option includes a thesis, or a major research project or paper in lieu of the final comprehensive examination, which has no credit hours. Those who elect this option may reduce their electives by three semester hours to accommodate the seminar option credit. This option is desirable for those students who wish to focus on specific subject matter of an interdisciplinary nature or who would like to continue their education at a higher level. Students electing this option must use this as one of the graduate electives.

In addition to the institutional and degree level learning outcomes objectives, the Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management also seeks the following specific learning outcomes of its graduates. Graduates in this degree program will be able to:

• Develop management strategies that incorporate environmental compliance standards and achieve organizational missions.
• Analyze and assess the interconnections among subfields of environmental systems to comprehend treatment, remediation, and disposal systems.
• Assess the direct and indirect costs of environmental regulation, problems, and corrective actions.
• Use the theory and practice of environmental policy and management to develop and evaluate global and local environmental strategies and policies including analysis of environmental issues, industrial-environmental relations, public and private environmental issues, and global environmental issues.
• Quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the consequences of ecological destruction on public health, productivity, and social and economic welfare.

• Detail the principles of sustainability and the roles of multiple disciplines in their effective implementation.
• Analyze the complex and dynamic interactions between humans and their environment.
• Assess the role of government policy at municipal, regional, national, and global levels in achieving sustainable development.
• Analyze the political, regulatory, and economic barriers that prevent full implementation of sustainable products, goods and services.
• Apply the principles of sustainability to complex environmental problems.
• Analyze the role of sustainability in meeting critical resource needs, such as renewable energy and water quality and quantity, on the local, regional, national, and global scale.

American Public University is part of American Public University System, an accredited university offering more than 180 degree and certificate programs at the undergraduate and graduate level. All courses are online, so students have the flexibility of taking classes any time or any place that fits their schedule. Our degree programs are designed to be challenging and relevant to working adults in both the public and private sectors and can help enhance their current career or prepare them for a career change.