MSEM Snapshot: What is the Ecology concentration?

By design, our Master of Science in Environmental Management (MSEM) program at University of San Francisco (USF) provides an interdisciplinary education that includes a mix of practical and theoretical instruction, real-world experience, and career connections. Our commitment is to develop students’ skills and empower science-based management strategies for the environmental challenges facing our world today – from stabilizing global climate to ensuring equitable access to clean air and water

Students have the option of pursuing one of four Concentrations during their (typically) two years in the MSEM program: Ecology, Water Management, Environmental Health & Hazards, or Energy and Climate. This means that in addition to completing the three required MSEM courses (Environmental Chemistry, Ecology, Quantitative Methods) and their Master’s Project, students complete five elective courses within their chosen area of concentration (and still have five other elective courses through which to pursue additional areas of interest).

In this post, we’re sharing insight into the Ecology concentration. As always, if you’d like additional information you can fill out this form or reach out to msem@usfca.edu. 

Sample electives that help students earn their Ecology concentration include:

• Wildland Fire & Ecology Management – providing an overview of fire as physical and ecological process and exploring the history and ecology of fire in each of the nine bioregions in California. This course examines fire management in California from Native American and post-European settlement to the present. In addition to classroom lecture and discussion, this course also includes laboratory exercise and a field trip day to local sites where evidence of fire as ecological factor is clearly evident.
• Environmental Health – focused on the study of how physical, biological, and chemical pollutants affect the environment and, in turn, human health. This course considers many aspects of environmental management related to the pervasive presence and release of chemicals. It examines biological pollution, including invasive species and pathogens. And it looks at emerging endocrine disruptors, evaluating potential sources, impacts, and management strategies – including a field trip to a wastewater treatment plant. (Note that this course is cross-listed for the Environmental Health & Hazards concentration as well.)
• California Ecosystems – providing students with an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of ecosystems in California, with consideration of natural biotic and abiotic processes that shape these ecosystems, impacts from anthropogenic stresses, policies related to ecosystem management and conservation, and restoration of these ecosystems.
• Restoration Ecology – emphasizing the application of ecological principles to restoration design, implementation, and monitoring.
• Conservation Biology – focused on addressing the biodiversity crisis and the role of ecological theory and scientific research in conservation issues ranging from populations of single species to entire ecosystems.

Other ecology electives include courses such as Field Botany, Wetland Ecology, Stream and Riparian Ecology, Wetland Delineation, Marine Resources, Field Survey Management and others. Additionally, we often offer Special Topics courses and work closely with the USF Geospatial Analysis Lab to offer ecology-centric courses that incorporate the use of technologies such as GIS and LiDAR.

This broad selection of coursework is made possible, of course, by the outstanding USF MSEM Faculty. In the field of ecology, many students first have the pleasure of working with April Randle, who teaches the required Ecology course during the first semester of their first year. Professor Randle brings a visible passion to the field, helping students gain foundational environmental science knowledge and drawing on her extensive research focused on how ecological factors shape the behavioral and morphological traits of species and influence species’ distributions and interactions. 

Coming out of the MSEM program, many alums pursue careers that put their ecological knowledge to work – in positions for organizations such as the Department of Fish & Wildlife, the Delta Stewardship Council, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, the Golden Gate Bird Alliance, and many others.