Michigan State University
AC-4: Graduate Program

The Master of Science degree in Sustainable Tourism and Protected Area Management provides students with opportunities to engage in integrated and applied research and to acquire professional skills for the study, management, administration and planning of tourism and protected areas under the overarching concept of community sustainability.  

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Sustainable Tourism and Protected Area Management is designed to enable students to generate new knowledge in the complementary fields of tourism and protected area management under the overarching concept of community sustainability.

The Department of Community Sustainability offers Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degree programs in Community Sustainability. Graduate programs in the Department of Community Sustainability provide students the opportunity to create individualized programs that draw from several complementary areas of scholarship. These areas include: community food and agricultural systems; natural resources and the environment; tourism and recreation systems; education and civic engagement; and international development. Today’s communities face complex problems due to ongoing changes to our environmental, social and agricultural/food systems. To aid in meeting these challenges, students’ programs are designed to provide a thorough grounding in integrative, applied research based on multiple paradigms, disciplines and methods. Master's and doctoral students in the department may choose either degree.  Masters students in both degrees select either the Plan A (research-based) or Plan B (project-based) degree.  A student may not earn a master's degree in both programs.

Doctoral students pursue a Ph.D. in one of MSU's many existing doctoral programs that have an environmental focus. In addition, they complete the coursework for the Specialization in Environmental Science and Policy. The Specialization provides students with an understanding of the diverse disciplines brought to bear on contemporary environmental problems. It is designed to provide an understanding of how various disciplines conceptualize environmental issues and how scientific information can be brought to bear on environmental decision-making and environmental policy

The Graduate Specialization in Ecological Food and Farming Systems is designed to foster an understanding of biogeochemical,socioeconomic, and policy concepts using experiential learning within the individual’s program of study as a venue for multidisciplinary work. For global perspectives, students are encouraged to participate in either a study abroad course with ecological food and farming systems content, or in a course with international focus

The Graduate Certificate in Forest Carbon Science, Policy and Management provides students with interdisciplinary training necessary to plan, manage, monitor and evaluate climate change mitigation projects that seek to retain or sequester carbon in forest ecosystems. Students will gain specific expertise needed internationally to participate in market-based, climate change mitigation activities such as the United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).

Biosystems Engineering (BE) - http://www.egr.msu.edu/bae/ Chemical Engineering and Materials Science - http://www.chems.msu.edu/ Fisheries and Wildlife - http://www.fw.msu.edu/ Forestry - http://www.for.msu.edu/ Environmental Geography - http://geo.msu.edu/undergraduate-information/undergraduate-degrees-2/ Crop and Soil Sciences - http://www.psm.msu.edu/ Packaging -http://www.packaging.msu.edu/

see attached inventory of degrees