The world is facing many environmental challenges – needing your help.

Through the Master of Environmental Science, you’ll learn risk assessment techniques and scientifically rigorous ways to tackle grand environmental challenges such as air, water and land contamination and controls, climate change, energy transition, conservation and ecosystem management, and food security.

You'll specialise in an area of your choice, learning from leaders in their fields, while also building professional skills in communication, policy, planning, and ethical business studies.

Sharpen your skills with real-world problems

You’ll leave the course with a major industry-based or academic research project to feature in your CV. In this project, you’ll apply your environmental science know-how to real-world problems, for one of our partners in a government, not-for-profit or consulting organisation.

If you’d like to gain even more real-world experience, you can also choose to complete a workplace internship or field-based courses.

Tailor your course

The Master of Environmental Science is suitable for those with a background in environmental engineering or the life, chemical, physical, Earth or environmental sciences. You'll have the flexibility to develop your own interests, whether they build on your background or you decide to try something completely new.

You’ll be able to choose from a wide range of environmental science and interdisciplinary subjects, so you can focus on a specialisation suited to your environmental challenge interests.

Gain more than just technical skills

We know that soft skills are important too, which is why we include a seminar subject to ensure you can effectively speak and write about science.

The Master of Environmental Science is a 200-point program, made up of:

• Core subjects (62.5 points), including an industry project
• Environmental science discipline subjects (87.5–112.5 points), including the option to undertake a research project
• Broadening environmental studies subjects (up to 25 points)
• Professional skills subjects (25–37.5 points).

In your first year, you’ll start with the core subjects EVSC90017 Global Environmental Change and EVSC90014 Environmental Risk Assessment and choose elective subjects from the Discipline, Broadening and Professional subject groupings.

In your second year, you’ll complete your elective subjects while undertaking the Industry Project in Environmental Science, and EVSC90019 Graduate Seminar: Environmental Science, where you will participate in, and sometimes lead, discussions of hot topics in environmental science.

In the year-long industry project, you'll work on an industry-relevant environmental science question. You’ll spend time at the workplace of your assigned industry client, getting a full understanding of the problem and why it is important to the business or mission of the organisation.

Interdisciplinary, multi and cross-disciplinary science is essential when addressing environmental issues. No longer can specialist researchers work in isolation. Instead, ecologists work on major infrastructure projects and geographers work with urban utilities, and sustainability experts work with lawyers.

We need people who can stand back and look at the big picture, to find the connections and build the networks of people to solve the world's environmental problems. Take the Great Barrier Reef, for example. Biologists, agricultural scientists, climate scientists, economists, and sociologists are just some of the groups that need to work together to find the way forward to protect this irreplaceable treasure. As a project coordinator, you could find the connection that makes all the difference.

Our graduates go on to work as environmental scientists, environmental engineers, environmental policy and regulation specialists, consultants, soil specialists, and ecologists.

Employers in this field include:

Further study

• Government departments of agriculture and environment such as state government, Parks Victoria, EPA Victoria and the Bureau of Meteorology
• Professional services companies including AECOM, Cardno, Jacobs and GHD
• Universities and public research institutions such as the CSIRO.

At the end of the course, if you complete the optional research project, you could qualify to undertake a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy).

In order to be considered for entry, you must have completed an undergraduate degree with a major in a relevant discipline (agricultural science, biological science, chemistry, Earth science,

IELTS (academic English Only): 6.5 (no band less than 6.0)
TOEFL Internet-based test: 79 + ; Writing 21; Speaking 18; Reading 13; Listening 13;
Pearson Test of English Academic: 58 + no communicative skill below 50
Cambridge English: Advanced/ Certificate of Advanced English (CAE): 176 + no skill below 169.