CSU’s innovative Master of Science in Ecosystem Sustainability, Plan A, is a research degree that enables students to develop core competencies in ecosystem science—the study of organisms and the environment—and apply that knowledge to address real-world issues.
The program serves as a foundation for a wide range of careers, including academic and scholarly professions, and work in government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and corporate and entrepreneurial environments.
We develop leaders in sustainability science: a new generation of practitioners able to address complex, integrated social-ecological problems in collaborative partnerships with researchers, resource users, and decision-makers.
A focus on solutions
Students work at the cutting edge of new research on ecosystem sustainability. Collaborating with some of the world’s leading ecosystem and sustainability scientists, students explore solutions to global problems related to water and natural resources, food supplies, energy, greenhouse gas management, land-use change, climate change, and environmental justice, among others.
Learning Objectives
Successful students will acquire:
- Detailed knowledge of quantitative and qualitative methods.
- An understanding of complex ecosystem functioning.
- A transdisciplinary understanding of social-ecological processes.
- The ability to work in teams across disciplines and with decision-makers, resource users, and team members outside of academia.
- The skills to conduct integrated assessments using systems approaches; conceptual, mathematical, geospatial, and statistical models; and innovative, collaborative processes.
- The ability to apply critical thinking in the development of sustainable systems at local and global scales.
- Advanced training in the methods of urban ecology and managing the sustainable cities of the future.
Local and Global Relevance
Our graduate community benefits from a highly networked program with close working links to the city governments of Fort Collins, Boulder, and Denver, and to local agencies, farming communities, and non-profits across the Front Range. We work at the highest elevations of the Rockies, in the lowest short-grass steppe regions, in cities, and neighborhoods. Our active research programs are spread around the globe: from northern, eastern, and southern Africa to China, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet, Honduras, and Mexico.
Students interested in graduate work should refer to the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Effective Fall 2023
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Core Courses: | ||
| ESS 501 | Principles of Ecosystem Sustainability | 3 |
| ESS 692 | Seminar | 1 |
| Areas – Select a minimum of 20 credits from the four Areas indicated below: | 20 | |
| Ecosystem Science | ||
| At least one course must be selected from the following (2-3 credits): | ||
| Foundations for Carbon/Greenhouse Gas Mgmt | ||
| Global Climate Change | ||
| Ecology of Forest Production | ||
| Biogeochemical Cycling in Ecosystems | ||
| Additional courses may be selected from the following: | ||
| Global Hydrologic Cycle | ||
| Global Carbon Cycle | ||
| Phytoremediation | ||
| Plant Metabolism | ||
| Foundations of Ecology | ||
| Community Ecology | ||
| Applications in Landscape Ecology | ||
| Ecophysiology of Trees | ||
| Fire Ecology | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Soil-Plant-Water Relations/Water Stress | ||
| World Grassland Ecogeography | ||
| Ecology of Grasslands and Shrublands | ||
| Micrometeorology | ||
| Soil-Plant-Nutrient Relationships | ||
| Advanced Snow Hydrology | ||
| Hillslope Hydrology and Runoff Processes | ||
| Ecosystem Sustainability | ||
| The following course must be taken (2 credits): | ||
| Greenhouse Gas Policies | ||
| Additional courses may be selected from the following: | ||
| Advanced Issues in Agriculture | ||
| Emerging Issues and Challenges for Global Agr | ||
| Bioenergy Policy, Economics, and Assessment | ||
| Managing for Ecosystem Sustainability | ||
| Integrated Forage Management | ||
| Understanding Policy and Emerging Issues | ||
| Ecosystem Services on Agricultural Lands | ||
| Anthropology and Sustainable Development | ||
| Human-Environment Interactions | ||
| Issues in Manure Management | ||
| Applied Advanced Water Resource Economics | ||
| Contemporary Issues in Developing Countries | ||
| Interdisciplinary Seminar in Ecology | ||
| Biobased Fuels, Energy, and Chemicals | ||
| Natural Resources Policy and Biodiversity | ||
| Action for Sustainable Behavior | ||
| Sustainable Military Lands Management | ||
| Seminar in Environmental Philosophy | ||
| Politics of Environment and Sustainability | ||
| Environmental Politics in the U.S. | ||
| Political Theory and the Environment | ||
| International Environmental Politics | ||
| Comparative Environmental Politics | ||
| Environmental Policy and Administration | ||
| Riparian Ecology and Management | ||
| Environmental Justice | ||
| Globalization and Socioeconomic Restructuring | ||
| Environmental Sociology | ||
| Global Inequality and Change | ||
| Watershed Management in Developing Countries | ||
| Quantitative Methods | ||
| At least one course must be selected from the following (4 credits): | ||
| Applications in Greenhouse Gas Inventories | ||
| Niche Models | ||
| Models for Ecological Data | ||
| Additional courses may be selected from the following: | ||
| Ecological and Social Agent-based Modeling | ||
| Applied Econometrics | ||
| Environmental and Natural Resource Economics | ||
| Applications in Landscape Ecology | ||
| Advanced Quantitative Methods in Forestry II | ||
| Groundwater Modeling | ||
| Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Remote Sensing and Image Analysis | ||
| Concepts in GIS | ||
| Spatial Statistical Modeling-Natural Resources | ||
| Quantitative Spatial Analysis | ||
| Principles of Natural Resources Ecology | ||
| Rangeland Ecosystem Sampling | ||
| Modeling Ecosystem Biogeochemistry | ||
| Terrestrial Ecosystems Isotope Ecology | ||
| Regression Models and Applications | ||
| Generalized Regression Models | ||
| Experimental Design | ||
| Mixed Models | ||
| Probability with Applications | ||
| Mathematical Statistics with Applications | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning | ||
| Data Visualization Methods | ||
| Computational and Simulation Methods | ||
| Survey Statistics | ||
| Nonparametric Methods | ||
| Analysis of Time Series | ||
| Methods in Multivariate Analysis | ||
| Applied Bayesian Statistics | ||
| Methods in Spatial Statistics | ||
| Design and Data Analysis for Researchers I | ||
| Design and Data Analysis for Researchers II | ||
| Stochastic Processes I | ||
| Analysis of Time Series I | ||
| Data Analysis and Regression | ||
| Biostatistical Methods for Quantitative Data | ||
| Statistics for Environmental Monitoring | ||
| Applied Multivariate Analysis | ||
| Nonparametric Statistics | ||
| Statistical Computing | ||
| Theory of Sampling Techniques | ||
| Design and Linear Modeling I | ||
| Categorical Data Analysis and GLIM | ||
| Design and Linear Modeling II | ||
| Modeling Watershed Hydrology | ||
| Snow Hydrology Field Methods | ||
| Data Issues in Hydrology | ||
| Communication/Collaboration | ||
| At least one course must be selected from the following (1-3 credits): | ||
| Research Seminar | ||
| Public Communication Campaigns | ||
| Communication and Innovation | ||
| Information Design | ||
| Communicating Science and Technology | ||
| Leadership and Public Communications | ||
| Research and Thesis (minimum credits required): | ||
| ESS 698 | Research | 3 |
| ESS 699 | Thesis | 3 |
| Program Total Credits: | 30 | |
A minimum of 30 credits are required to complete this program.
For more information, please visit Requirements for All Graduate Degrees in the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Summary of Procedures for the Master's and Doctoral Degrees
NOTE: Each semester the Graduate School publishes a schedule of deadlines. Deadlines are available on the Graduate School website. Students should consult this schedule whenever they approach important steps in their careers.
Forms are available online.
| Step | Due Date |
|---|---|
| 1. Application for admission (online) | Six months before first registration |
| 2. Diagnostic examination when required | Before first registration |
| 3. Appointment of advisor | Before first registration |
| 4. Selection of graduate committee | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 5. Filing of program of study (GS Form 6) | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 6. Preliminary examination (Ph.D. and PD) | Two terms prior to final examination |
| 7. Report of preliminary examination (GS Form 16) - (Ph.D. and PD) | Within two working days after results are known |
| 8. Changes in committee (GS Form 9A) | When change is made |
| 9. Application for Graduation (GS Form 25) | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 9a. Reapplication for Graduation (online) | Failure to graduate requires Reapplication for Graduation (online) for the next time term for which you are applying |
| 10. Submit thesis or dissertation to committee | At least two weeks prior to the examination or at the discretion of the graduate committee |
| 11. Final examination | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 12. Report of final examination (GS Form 24) | Within two working days after results are known; refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 13. Submit a signed Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form (GS Form 30) to the Graduate School and Submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates (Ph.D. only) prior to submitting the electronic thesis/dissertation | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website. |
| 14. Submit the thesis/dissertation electronically | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 15. Graduation | Ceremony information is available from the Graduate School website |