Earth and Environmental Sciences, M.S.

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Master of Science in Earth & Environmental Sciences Requirements

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers graduate courses and research leading to the Master of Science. The graduate courses and research areas are such that several different career goals can be met, including the following: (1) preparation for enrollment in a Ph.D. program in geoscience, environmental science, or a related field, (2) preparation for employment as a professional geoscientist or environmental scientist with industry or government, and (3) advancement of knowledge of the earth and environmental sciences and teaching skills of secondary school and junior college teachers.

Graduate research opportunities are available in several fields, including but not restricted to hydrology/hydrogeology/hydrogeochemistry, biogeochemistry, forestry and wildfire, geophysics, tectonics, engineering geology, geomorphology, structural geology, volcanology/igneous and metamorphic petrology, sedimentology/paleontology/stratigraphy, paleoclimatology and high temperature, and stable isotope geochemistry.

The EES Dept is unique in our faculty experience in applied fields and the training that we offer to students choosing to work in applied fields after graduation, such as hydrogeology, engineering geology, environmental geology, environmental remediation, natural resources conservation, resource geology, landslide and earthquake hazard assessment, environmental planning, and the like.

Please see the Earth & Environmental Sciences Graduate Student Handbook or contact the Earth & Environmental Sciences, MS program coordinator for more information.

University requirements are met through satisfactory completion of core courses and specialty courses in the curriculum emphasis.

Application Requirements

A bachelor’s degree is required. Prospective students holding geoscience- and environmental-science-related degrees may be accepted directly into our program. Instructions for submitting undergraduate transcripts can be found at Cal State Apply. We also welcome students holding unrelated bachelor’s degrees, but admitted students in this group are conditionally admitted, upon condition that they complete a pre-determined part of the undergraduate core curriculum in geology and/or environmental science, tailored to their prior training and desired Fresno State research area.
A personal statement (250+ words) of why the applicant wants to pursue the Earth & Environmental Sciences, MS at Fresno State. The statement should include the applicant’s choice(s) of research advisor(s), field of research interest(s), and proficiency/preparation for this field of study.
Prospective students admitted into the Earth & Environmental Sciences, MS program are also admitted to the research group of their requested advisor. Therefore, it is important for applicants to contact prospective advisors prior to applying to the program, in order to discuss the potential to work together on mutually-agreed-upon research. Potential thesis advisors shall be faculty members in the Earth & Environmental Sciences Department.
Three letters of recommendation (ideally from academic references, with professional references also welcome) are required. These letters should be submitted through Cal State Apply.

International applicants: International students have additional admission requirements such as English language proficiency and financial documents. For more information, please contact the international office or visit the website.

Conditional acceptance

Conditionally accepted students must earn “classified standing” as soon as possible by completing the prerequisite coursework. Prerequisite coursework may not be included in the 30-unit master’s program.

Graduate Writing Requirement

Prior to Advancement to Candidacy, students must complete the Graduate Writing Requirement. This requirement is satisfied by the writing component of EES 201 .

Degree Requirements

Fresno State’s Earth & Environmental Sciences, MS degree consists of 30 units of coursework and master’s thesis research. Earth & Environmental Sciences, MS work assumes as its foundation the equivalent of an undergraduate major in geology. The Earth & Environmental Sciences, MS coursework builds upon this foundation and two-thirds of the 30 units required for the degree must be in earth and environmental sciences, with at least 21 of the 30 in graduate level (200-series) courses. For thesis research students are guided by a thesis advisor. The thesis advisor also guides the selection of coursework in the program. For additional details regarding such requirements, procedures, and milestones, please contact the geology graduate program coordinator and the Earth & Environmental Sciences Graduate Student Handbook; for general requirements see Division of Graduate Studies. (See also Admission to Graduate Standing, Advancement to Candidacy, Program Requirements, and Criteria for Thesis and Project.)

Course Requirements

Under the direction of the thesis advisor, and with approval by the department faculty, each student prepares and submits an individually designed program. Most coursework is elective in nature, in keeping with the department’s philosophy that flexibility enables students to develop a path of study best suited to their goals. The course requirements are as follows

Core (6 units)

EES 200 - Introduction to Scientific Writing and Presenting Units: 3
EES 201 - Geoscience Writing and Thesis Proposal Design Units: 3

Elective Requirement (18 uints)

Approved upper-division or graduate course electives in earth and environmental sciences or related fields such as biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and mathematics. Electives determined in consultation with graduate advisor

Culminating Experience (6 units)

EES 299 - Thesis Units: 2-6

Total Units: 30

Advising Notes:

Thesis: A master’s thesis and oral thesis defense are required. Also, an oral defense of a thesis proposal is required as part of EES 201 , to ensure that students have selected a problem that is commensurate with an M.S. thesis and that the proposed methods of analysis are appropriate to the task. The thesis defense will include questions about the thesis and questions of a more general nature related to knowledge in the earth sciences. The thesis will be judged by the extent to which a student attempts to solve a scientific problem by employing methods appropriate to the task. The thesis must meet certain minimum standards, which include the following: thoughtful consideration of and reference to prior work in the field of study; a peripheral understanding of the broader scientific value or societal implications of the work, as appropriate; and a demonstration of originality and critical thinking. Graduate students conducting research in a foreign country are expected to be proficient in the language in which source materials are published.

Applied Geology: Students studying applied geology should take the following courses before or during their graduate experience: EES 114 , EES 117 , EES 124 .