Admissions Requirements

Applications are due on February 1 for the upcoming Fall semester program start date.

How to Apply

All applications and supporting documents, except for official transcripts, are submitted through Cal State Apply, an online application portal used by all CSU campuses. Please see the Cal State Apply Application Guide for frequently asked questions.

Undergraduate Preparation

The program accepts students from a wide range of related undergraduate majors, provided they have a strong scientific and quantitative background, including significant upper-division coursework.

A bachelor's degree in a related field from an accredited college or university with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale is required. Applicants with a strong application and a GPA of 2.75 to 2.99 may be considered under exceptional circumstances if their GPA in their final two years of undergraduate or postgraduate studies is above 3.0. Regardless of undergraduate major, the following minimum prerequisites and coursework must be completed by the times indicated below for admission to the graduate program.

A science degree OR completion of significant upper-division science coursework.
Calculus. 1 course (not including pre-calculus); must be completed BEFORE enrolling in the fall.
Statistics. 1 course; college statistics for science majors (preferably using R statistical software); must be completed BEFORE enrolling in the fall.
Biology. 1 course; college biology for science majors (e.g., ecology, botany, population biology, ecosystems); must be completed BEFORE enrolling in the fall.
Physical Earth Science. 1 course for science majors (e.g., geology, soils, geomorphology, hydrology, oceanography); must be completed BEFORE enrolling in the fall.
GIS. 1 college-level GIS course or basic ESRI ArcGIS certification; may be completed during the fall semester of the first year in the program.
Economics. 1 course (e.g., microeconomics, environmental and natural resource economics); may be completed during fall or spring semesters of the first year in the program.

Conditional Admission

Applicants who lack any of these required courses may be accepted for conditional admission. Applicants should outline in their Statement of Purpose how they plan to complete all missing requirements in the appropriate time frame.

Required Application Documents

Resume/CV

Uploaded through Cal State Apply

Transcripts

All original, final (graded) transcripts must be submitted directly to our Admissions Office by February 1 (for Fall admission). The address for electronic transcripts is admprocessing@csumb.edu. The address for paper transcripts is:

Graduate Admissions
Office of Admissions
100 Campus Center
Seaside, CA 93955

If you are a current CSUMB student or alumnus, and there are no changes to your transcript, you do not need to submit your official CSUMB transcripts.

Recommendation Packets

Three letters of recommendation (aka recommendation packets) are required from individuals who can speak to your ability to succeed in a rigorous master of science program. At least one of these letters should be from current or former college or university faculty familiar with your academic performance and relevant experience.

They are submitted online through Cal State Apply.

Statement of Purpose

The Statement of Purpose is submitted online through Cal State Apply. Your Statement of Purpose should clearly identify potential faculty advisors and provide details on:

Your professional goals and how they are aligned with the Environmental Science MS program.
Your particular area of interest (e.g., remote sensing, restoration, hydrology) within the Environmental Science MS program (including requested degree track) and reasons for wanting to pursue an M.S. degree in this area.
Your past academic work as it relates to your desired area(s) of study.
Any additional research or professional experience that may assist the selection committee in evaluating your preparation and aptitude for graduate study.
Any additional steps you are taking to meet program prerequisites.

*GRE scores will not be required.

Contacting Potential Advisors

Direct communication with potential faculty mentors is a key component of the application decision process for both PSM and Thesis applicants. We strongly encourage prospective students to visit our faculty directory below and read about their areas of interest and ongoing research. Once you are familiar with their areas of specialty, please email professors to set up a time to talk.

Table. Faculty Directory for the Environmental Science Master's program

Faculty Name	Lab	Research Area	Email
Susan Alexander	CSUMB NASA Ames Cooperative Agreement	Ecology, environmental science, and ecosystem processes	salexander@csumb.edu
Elizabeth Alter	Alter Lab	Molecular ecology and population genomics of aquatic organisms (particularly fishes and mammals), environmental DNA, and phylogenetics	ealter@csumb.edu
Lydia Baker	Symbiosis Ecology Analytics Lab	Marine ecology, microbial genomics, symbiont ecology; host-microbe interactions and resilience of marine organisms; fish and coral reef microbial dynamics; marine science education, outreach, and service learning	lybaker@csumb.edu
Gerick Bergsma	Bergsma Lab	Ecology and evolutionary biology, marine science, and zoology	gbergsma@csumb.edu
Jennifer Duggan	Terrestrial Wildlife Ecology Lab	Conservation biology, landscape ecology, and animal behavior	jduggan@csumb.edu
Daniel Fernandez	Fernandez Lab	Physics, sustainability and alternative energy, and fog water collection	dfernandez@csumb.edu
James Guilinger	Watershed Geology Lab	Process geomorphology in hillslope, riverine, and coastal ecosystems, with an emphasis on disturbances related to climate change and human land use, such as wildfires; sediment dynamics, terrestrial remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and watershed hydrology	jguilinger@csumb.edu
Arlene Haffa	Haffa Lab	Sustainable agriculture and climate change	ahaffa@csumb.edu
Alison Haupt	Coastal Ecology Lab	Kelp forest ecology and anthropogenic effects on marine ecosystems	ahaupt@csumb.edu
Nathaniel Jue	Genomics & Bioinformatics Lab	Functional, evolutionary, and ecological genomics; bioinformatics, and pesticide bioremediation	njue@csumb.edu
James Lindholm	Fish Ecology & Video Analysis Lab	Landscape ecology of fishes, marine protected area (MPA) area design and management, image-based approaches to subtidal ecology, and research diving	jlindholm@csumb.edu
Cheryl Logan	Environmental Physiology Lab	Marine ecological physiology and climate change biology	clogan@csumb.edu
John Olson	Watershed Environments and Ecology Lab	Freshwater ecology, water quality, and bioassessment	joolson@csumb.edu
Fred Watson	Watson Lab	Conservation, land use, planning, and recreation; ecology of plants and wildlife, hydrology, cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing	fwatson@csumb.edu

Out-of-State Students

Out-of-state students may be eligible for in-state tuition rates. ENSCI is a member of the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). WRGP is a tuition-reciprocity arrangement coordinated through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) that enables students from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming to enroll at CSUMB and pay the resident tuition rate, instead of the nonresident rate that an out-of-state student would normally pay.

International Students

Please visit the International Admissions website to ensure you meet all the requirements for international students. All documents must be sent to admprocessing@csumb.edu.

Funding

Financial Aid Information

For priority consideration to receive financial aid, submit a Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). All applicants are encouraged to submit a FAFSA application regardless of their application status.

Please visit CSUMB's Financial Aid Website for additional information on financial aid, FAFSA, and scholarships.

To help determine the costs associated with this program, take a look at CSUMB's Cost Calculator.

Faculty Grant Funding

Please reach out to our faculty members directly to inquire about potential grant funding.

Teaching Associate Positions

Teaching Associates are available in a limited number each year, depending on departmental need and resources. All Teaching Associate positions receive a monthly stipend that varies by semester. The stipend amount depends on the number of hours worked, responsibilities, and qualifications/prior teaching experience. California State University, Monterey Bay also has a limited number of graduate In-State Tuition Fee Waivers (in addition to the monthly stipend) for eligible Teaching Associates. Occasionally, the number of Teaching Associate positions exceeds the available CSU In-State Tuition Fee Waivers (i.e., not all TAs will receive In-State Tuition Fee Waivers).

Teaching Associate applications are accepted on a rolling basis. All application materials must be submitted to this Google form. For more information about TA positions, check out our FAQ document.

Scholarships

Upon completing your application for the Environmental Sciences master's program, you will be assigned an Otter ID. With your Otter ID, you are eligible to complete the CSUMB Scholarship Application. Completing this general application will qualify you for up to 65 scholarships ranging from $100 to $7500. The deadline to apply each year is in early February. Applications will be open in mid-fall.

You can also explore external graduate scholarship opportunities via Pathways to Science.

Out-of-State Students/WRGP

Out-of-state students from western states are eligible for in-state tuition rates. ENSCI is a member of the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). WRGP is a tuition-reciprocity arrangement coordinated through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) that enables students from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam to enroll at CSUMB and pay the resident tuition rate, instead of the nonresident rate that an out-of-state student would normally pay. For more information, visit the CSUMB WRGP web page.