Master of Science in Environmental Analysis (MSEA) Degree

Program Learning Outcomes for the MSEA Degree 

Upon completing the MSEA Degree, students will be able to:

  1. Apply technical and analytical skills and scientific evaluation methods to help solve problems affecting the environment. 
  2. Demonstrate written, oral, and visual communication strategies required to work effectively across science, business, and government.
  3. Possess business and management skills and professional ethics to be effective in a business environment.

Requirements for the MSEA Degree

The MSEA degree is a non-thesis master's degree. For general university requirements, please see Non-Thesis Master's Degrees. For additional requirements, regulations, and procedures for all graduate programs, please see All Graduate Students. Students pursuing the MSEA degree must complete:

  • A minimum of 14 courses (minimum of 39 credit hours) to satisfy degree requirements.
  • A minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate-level study (graduate semester credit hours, coursework at the 500-level or above).
  • A minimum of 24 graduate semester credit hours must be taken at Rice University.
  • A minimum of 24 graduate semester credit hours must be taken in standard or traditional courses (with a course type of lecture, seminar, laboratory, lecture/laboratory, etc.). 
  • A minimum residency enrollment of one fall or spring semester of part-time graduate study at Rice University.
  • A maximum of 2 courses (6 graduate semester credit hours) from transfer credit. For additional departmental guidelines regarding transfer credit, see the Policies tab.
  • A 3-6 month full-time internship. Instead of a thesis, at the conclusion of their internship, students must present their internship project in both oral and written form as part of the Professional Master’s Project (NSCI 512). Part-time students who already work in their area of study may request approval to fulfill the internship requirement by working on a specific, pre-approved project with their current employer.3
  • A minimum overall GPA of 2.67 or higher in all Rice coursework.
  • A minimum program GPA of 2.67 or higher in all Rice coursework that satisfies requirements for the non-thesis master’s degree.

Note: Some of the listed courses are not offered every year, and some may also have prerequisites or require instructor permission.

The courses listed below satisfy the requirements for this degree program. In certain instances, courses not on this official list may be substituted upon approval of the program's academic advisor or, where applicable, the department or program's Director of Graduate Studies. Course substitutions must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the department or program's Official Certifier. Additionally, these course substitutions must be approved by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Students and their academic advisors should identify and clearly document the courses to be taken.

Summary

Total Credit Hours Required for the MSEA Degree39

Degree Requirements

Core Requirements
Core Science Courses
BIOS 571ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT3
CEVE 501CHEMISTRY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE3
or CEVE 510 PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Select 1 course from the following:3
ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL DATA
FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTITATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT
DATA-DRIVEN MODELS FOR CLIMATE HAZARD
ENVIRONMENTAL STATISTICS AND DECISION MAKING
Cohort Courses
NSCI 501PROFESSIONAL MASTER'S SEMINAR (2 semesters required, 1st semester)1
NSCI 501PROFESSIONAL MASTER'S SEMINAR (2 semesters required, 2nd semester)1
NSCI 511SCIENCE POLICY, AND ETHICS3
NSCI 610 / ENGI 610MANAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING3
Elective Requirements
Select a minimum of 7 courses (minimum of 21 credit hours) as electives (see course list below): 1,221
Three to Six Month Full-Time Internship
A three to six month full-time internship is required 3
NSCI 512PROFESSIONAL MASTER'S PROJECT1
Total Credit Hours39

Footnotes and Additional Information

Course Lists to Satisfy Requirements 

Elective Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 7 courses (21 credit hours) from the following courses. At least 3 credit hours must be completed from the Management and Policy focus area, 9 credit hours from one focus area, 1 course each from the following subject codes: Biosciences (BIOS) and Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEVE), and 1 course from the Quantitative Decision-Making focus area.

Environmental Sustainability
BIOS 523CONSERVATION BIOLOGY3
BIOS 559SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT ASSESSMENTS3
BIOS 563TOPICS IN ECOLOGY (FALL)1
BIOS 568TOPICS IN ECOLOGY (SPRING)1
BIOS 569CORE COURSE IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY1
BIOS 573CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS3
BIOS 574GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY3
BIOS 580SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND REPORTING3
CEVE 501CHEMISTRY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE3
CEVE 502SUSTAINABLE DESIGN3
CEVE 507ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT3
CEVE 508INTRODUCTION TO AIR POLLUTION CONTROL3
CEVE 509HYDROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING3
CEVE 511ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND CLIMATE3
CEVE 518ENVIRONMENTAL HYDROGEOLOGY3
CEVE 520ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION RESTORATION3
CEVE 523APPLIED SUSTAINABLE PLANNING AND DESIGN3
CEVE 526SMART MATERIALS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT3
CEVE 534FATE AND TRANSPORT OF CONTAMINANTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT3
CEVE 535PHYSICAL CHEMICAL PROCESSES FOR WATER QUALITY CONTROL3
CEVE 536ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOREMEDIATION3
CEVE 544ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY AND MICROBIAL ECOLOGY3
CEVE 550ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY3
DSCI 535 / COMP 549APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS4
EEPS 592SPECIAL TOPICS IN EARTH, ENVIRONMENTAL & PLANETARY SCIENCES2
EEPS 632FLUID FLOW IN FRACTURED ROCKS3
EEPS 635REMOTE SENSING3
EEPS 645EARTH AND PLANETARY INTERIORS3
EEPS 699GRAPHIC AND VISUAL DESIGN FOR SCIENTISTS3
MGMT 658APPLIED RISK MANAGEMENT1.5
MGMT 758ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) ISSUES IN STRATEGY1.5
Management and Policy
CEVE 506INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW3
CEVE 528 / ENGI 528ENGINEERING ECONOMICS3
CEVE 529 / ENGI 529ETHICS AND ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP3
ECON 611GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY4
or MGMT 611 GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY
GLBL 543ENERGY GEOPOLITICS3
MGMT 561BUSINESS-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS1.5
MGMT 609ENERGY MARKETS IN TRANSITION1.5
MGMT 610FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ENERGY INDUSTRY1.5
MGMT 661INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LAW3
MGMT 670OPERATIONS STRATEGY1.5
MGMT 676MISSION AND VALUES AS A LEADER IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES1.5
MGMT 721BUSINESS LAW1.5
MGMT 747REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS1.5
MGMT 758ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) ISSUES IN STRATEGY1.5
NSCI 515FOUNDATIONS OF PROJECT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT3
Quantitative Decision-Making
BIOS 538ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL DATA3
BIOS 558FUNDAMENTALS OF QUANTITATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT3
CEVE 521CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT3
CEVE 528 / ENGI 528ENGINEERING ECONOMICS3
CEVE 543DATA-DRIVEN MODELS FOR CLIMATE HAZARD3
DSCI 535 / COMP 549APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS4
EEPS 584DATA SCIENCE ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOSCIENCES3
EEPS 586DATA SCIENCE METHODS AND DATA MANAGEMENT3
EEPS 635REMOTE SENSING3
EEPS 636GIS FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS3
EEPS 645EARTH AND PLANETARY INTERIORS3
EEPS 699GRAPHIC AND VISUAL DESIGN FOR SCIENTISTS3
MGMT 595DATA ANALYSIS3
MGMT 758ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) ISSUES IN STRATEGY1.5
NSCI 515FOUNDATIONS OF PROJECT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT3
STAT 553BIOSTATISTICS3
STAT 605R FOR DATA SCIENCE3
or STAT 606 SAS STATISTICAL PROGRAMMING
STAT 615REGRESSION AND LINEAR MODELS3
STAT 685ENVIRONMENTAL STATISTICS AND DECISION MAKING3

Policies for the MSEA Degree 

Professional Science Master's Graduate Program Handbook

The General Announcements (GA) is the official Rice curriculum. As an additional resource for students, the Professional Science Master's Program publishes a graduate program handbook, which can be found here: https://gradhandbooks.rice.edu/2024_25/Natural_Sciences_Professional_Masters_Graduate_Handbook.pdf.

Admission

Admission to graduate study in Environmental Analysis is open to qualified students holding a bachelor’s degree in a related field that includes general biology, chemistry, calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra. Department faculty evaluate the previous academic record and credentials of each applicant individually.

Transfer Credit 

For Rice University’s policy regarding transfer credit, see Transfer Credit. Some departments and programs have additional restrictions on transfer credit. Requests for transfer credit must be approved for Rice equivalency by the appropriate academic department offering the Rice equivalent course (corresponding to the subject code of the course content) and by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS). Students are encouraged to meet with their academic program’s advisor when considering transfer credit possibilities.

Program Transfer Credit Guidelines

Students pursuing the MSEA degree should be aware of the following program-specific transfer credit guideline:

  • No more than 2 courses (6 credit hours) of transfer credit from U.S. or international universities of similar standing as Rice may apply towards the degree.

Additional Information 

For additional information, please see the Environmental Analysis website: https://profms.rice.edu/.

Opportunities for the MSEA Degree 

Fifth-Year Master's Degree Option for Rice Undergraduate Students 

In certain situations and with some terminal master's degree programs, Rice students have an option to pursue a master’s degree by adding an additional fifth year to their four years of undergraduate studies.

Advanced Rice undergraduate students in good academic standing typically apply to the master’s degree program during their junior or senior year. Upon acceptance, depending on course load, financial aid status, and other variables, they may then start taking some required courses of the master's degree program. A plan of study will need to be approved by the student's undergraduate major advisor and the master’s degree program director.

As part of this option and opportunity, Rice undergraduate students:

  • must complete the requirements for a bachelor's degree and the master's degree independently of each other (i.e. no course may be counted toward the fulfillment of both degrees).
  • should be aware there could be financial aid implications if the conversion of undergraduate coursework to that of graduate level reduces their earned undergraduate credit for any semester below that of full-time status (12 credit hours).
  • more information on this Undergraduate - Graduate Concurrent Enrollment opportunity, including specific information on the registration process can be found here.

Rice undergraduate students completing studies in science may have the option to pursue the Master of Science in Environmental Analysis (MSEA) degree. For additional information, students should contact their undergraduate major advisor, the faculty MSEA program director, and the Professional Science Master's (PSM) program director. 

Additional Information 

For additional information, please see the Environmental Analysis website: https://profms.rice.edu/.