Education > Graduate Education

Approximately 150 graduate students are pursuing M.S. and Ph.D. degrees under the direction of UMCES faculty members, typically based at one of the Center's three laboratories: Horn Point Laboratory, Appalachian Laboratory, and Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. An independent research center of the University System of Maryland (USM), UMCES does not itself award credits or degrees, but participates in graduate education in partnership with the degree-granting institutions of the System, principally through the following programs:

Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences (MEES) Graduate Program

This is a highly interdisciplinary, multi-campus graduate program in marine and environmental science. Nearly one-third of the students enrolled in this program are based at UMCES laboratories, all three of which actively participate in MEES.  Degrees are awarded through the University of Maryland, College Park, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, or the University of Maryland, Baltimore.  Current Areas of Specialization within MEES are as follows: 

    Oceanography
    Ecology
    Environmental Molecular Biology
    Environmental Chemistry
    Fisheries Science
    Environmental Science

University of Maryland Graduate Program in Toxicology

The System-wide Program in Toxicology encompasses faculty and resources of multiple USM institutions. Students based at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory pursue M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.  The Program provides educational and professional training in mechanistic and applied fields of environmental and mammalian toxicology. Current Areas of Specialization are as follows:

     Mechanisms of Cell Injury
     Carcinogenesis
     Reproductive Toxicology
     Neurotoxicology
     Aquatic Toxicology
     Forensic Toxicology
     Molecular Epidemiology
     Risk Assessment and Environmental Law

Department of Biology, Frostburg State University

Students may study at the UMCES Appalachian Laboratory to obtain a M.S. degree awarded by Frostburg State University in either Wildlife/Fisheries Biology or Applied Ecology and Conservation Biology, which includes tracks in Conservation Biology and Landscape and Watershed Ecology.  

Many of the courses within these programs are taught by UMCES faculty and provided over the USM's  Interactive Video Network (IVN), an tool that enables lectures and real-time discussions from multiple campuses to be transmitted simultaneously. Over 90% of UMCES students receive benefits such as a student stipend, tuition, and health insurance. Working closely with their UMCES advisor in a research-intensive environment, students pursue thesis and dissertation research using the special facilities and access to field environments afforded by the UMCES laboratories. 

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