Graduate students walking along the eastern Sierra Nevada

New Master of Science Degree in EPM

UC Davis is proud to announce a groundbreaking Master of Science degree program in Environmental Policy and Management (EPM) within the John Muir Institute of the Environment.

Michael Springborn, Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, serves as the faculty coordinator for this new program and will aid admitted students “to receive advanced training in applying environmental science to real-world environmental policy and management issues, such as climate change, species conservation, and water management” (Stumbos). This new EPM program targets students with scientific and engineering credentials who are seriously interested in applying to environmental policy and management careers. Graduate students of this program will attain quantitative competencies to assimilate technical and scientific knowledge in a “social-political-natural context” to provide accurate and effective environmental policy and management solutions (Springborn).

Not only will this new program benefit students to gain career experience and new applicable skills and address well needed concerns but “this program will leverage the position of UC Davis as one of the world’s strongest campuses in policy-relevant environmental research” states Springborn. QS rankings place UC Davis’ environment science program in 13th place among elite institutions. In addition, UC Davis is currently ranked 4th in environment and ecology according to the U.S. News & World Report’s “2016 Best Global Universities.”Ronald Tjeerdema, Associate Dean for Environmental Science, stresses that “as a global leader in the environmental sciences, UC Davis will play an increasingly important role in developing effective strategies to address the impacts of climate change” and generate environmental policy decisions at state, national, and international levels.

Springborn states the EPM program surfaces concerns and focuses attention in many areas:

  • Students and employers often ask for better and more formal preparation to bridge the differences between scientific academic background and policy and management work, with emphasis on communicating technical information in various management and policy contexts.
  • Increased attention is being placed on the co-development of science for policy and management. Doing so requires training individuals with the interdisciplinary skills to understand both communities.
  • Environmental problem solving increasingly requires more analytical capability within a political and economic decision-making framework.
  • Real and rigorous problem-solving skills involving analysis, communication, and negotiation are needed for students with scientific backgrounds involved in policy-making and management positions.

Please, encourage our fellow students to apply for this exciting program by January 15, 2017. Accepted applicants are expected to start in the Fall of 2017.

For More Information Contact:

Michael Springborn
Department of Environmental Science and Policy
530-752-5244
mspringborn@ucdavis.edu

For more news about the Master of Science Degree Program visit Advanced Studies by John Stumbos

To learn more about the Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management Degree program, visit the program website at http://epm.ucdavis.edu