Program Requirements

As one of the nation’s leading interdisciplinary graduate programs in ecology and environmental sciences, the Ecology and Environmental Sciences (EES) graduate program provides an academic program that is rigorous, flexible, and takes advantage of UMaine’s strengths in ecology, environmental sciences, and environmental policy. The primary mission of this program is to offer students the opportunity to acquire a Masters and/or Doctorate degree with an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis and resolution of ecological and environmental problems.

The EES graduate program includes over 50 faculty members in 17 academic departments who collectively represent a broad spectrum of expertise in the analysis of physical, chemical, biological, ecological, policy-related, and paleoecological aspects of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. Faculty and their students are currently studying a wide range of challenging problems in ecology, environmental science, and environmental policy in locations as nearby as the local vernal pools of Maine and as distant as the Hawaiian Islands and the marshes of Hudson Bay.

In the EES Program, there are three degree options:

Our Masters with thesis is designed to provide students with the background necessary to conduct or to evaluate research.

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Our Masters Non-Thesis is for students who need advanced coursework in ecology and environmental sciences to meet their career goals and who want to work in a less research-oriented capacity.

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For all three degrees, EES students should familiarize themselves with and follow the guidelines provided by the UMaine Graduate School.

Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program learning outcomes

  • Contribution to Knowledge: Students will synthesize and critically evaluate existing knowledge in environmental sciences and/or policy to generate original research, scholarship, or applied solutions that advance our understanding of complex environmental challenges.
  • Analysis: Students will apply relevant quantitative and/or qualitative approaches to the collection, analysis, interpretation, and contextualization of data.
  • Communication: Students will effectively convey environmental sciences and/or policy research findings orally and in writing.
  • Responsible Practice: Students will practice ethical and responsible conduct of environmental sciences and/or policy research.