Environmental Engineering & Science M.S.

Environmental Process Engineering - The purpose of the process engineering area is to prepare graduates to design engineered systems for removing contaminants from the air, water, and soil - an activity that is central to environmental engineering. Because of the continually evolving nature of the problems faced by environmental engineers, courses in this emphasis area focus on the approach to problem-solving rather than on specific solutions to today's issues. This provides the students with a strong foundation in unit operations and the ability to assemble them into process trains capable of solving any pollution control problem, regardless of its complexity or nature.

Nuclear Environmental Engineering and Science (NEES) - Explores environmental health physics, risk assessment, environmental radiochemistry, actinide chemistry, and radioactive waste management. The research focuses on radiation detection and measurements, environmental radiochemistry, radionuclide fate and transport, and radioactive waste processing. Students within the NEES program may follow the Environmental Radiochemistry track or the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC) accredited Environmental Health Physics track.

Environmental Health Physics - Environmental Health Physics (EHP) is designed to address broad environmental issues associated with anthropogenic and natural radioactivity. The objective of the curriculum is to provide students with the knowledge and training needed to protect human health and the environment from ionizing radiation. Integral to this program is assessing the risk associated with the radiation. Research areas include low-level radiation detection, analytical techniques to quantify stable elements utilizing radiation, environmental monitoring, radionuclide transport, radioactive waste management, and risk assessment.

Environmental Radiochemistry - The Environmental Radiochemistry program curriculum is designed to introduce the fundamental concepts associated with the quantification of radionuclide concentrations and behavior in natural and engineered systems. Emphasis is placed on actinide environmental chemistry, radionuclide fate and transport in the environment, radionuclide speciation, analytical radiochemical methods, and chemical separations important in the nuclear fuel cycle. The objective of the curriculum is to provide students with knowledge and training in such areas as radionuclide/actinide speciation, fate and transport in subsurface environments, radioanalytical chemical separations, nuclear waste management, spent nuclear fuel processing and isotope production.

Sustainable Systems & Environmental Assessment - Challenges students to think about environmental systems in a broader context. The objective of the curriculum is to provide a basis for the analysis of complex interactions between human and natural systems. The core courses cover fundamental systems analysis and risk assessment principles, while the electives allow students to define a path of study that bridges scientific and social inquiry.

Surface and Subsurface Processes - Provides students with the knowledge and training to deal with transport and fate processes in engineered and natural systems. Natural systems will include the atmosphere, surface waters and subsurface waters. Incorporating the results of transport analyses into management decisions involving monitoring and remediation often requires the quantification and analysis of various real and perceived risks, so an additional objective will be to provide the basic tools needed for risk and decision analysis. A fundamental, quantitative understanding of all these processes will be emphasized so that students can adapt readily to the ever-changing conditions in the real world.

Environmental Chemistry - Introduces the fundamental concepts important to environmental chemistry. The focus is on understanding the sources of chemicals in the environment and the characteristics of chemicals and the environment that control fate and its effects. Also of interest are the physical, chemical and biological processes that affect the behavior of inorganic and organic contaminants in natural and engineered systems and how these properties may be exploited to detect, quantitatively model and control the contaminants in environmental systems.

All students pursuing the Environmental Engineering and Science M.S. degree are required to take three core courses (9).

• EES 8020 - Environmental Engineering Principles (3)
• EES 8430 - Environmental Chemistry (3)
• EES 8150 - Radiobiology (3) or EES 8510 - Biological Principles of Environmental Engineering (3)

All M.S. EES students must register for EES 8610 - Environmental Engineering and Science Seminar during the fall and spring semesters.

*Unless a similar course was previously taken and accepted by the Graduate Program Coordinator or Department Chair

Thesis Option: The M.S. thesis option requires 24 hours of graduate credit coursework and a minimum of 6 hours of EES 8910 - Master's Thesis Research. At least half of the total graduate credit hours must be from courses numbered 8000 or above. A final oral examination of the M.S. thesis is required.

Non-Thesis Option: The M.S. non-thesis option requires 30 hours of graduate credit coursework, none of which may be master's thesis research, and students must pass a final oral exam. A minimum of 21 credit hours must be at the 8000 level for non-thesis M.S. students. Students in the non-thesis option must complete a research project supervised by a faculty member and present the project during their final oral exam.

Non-Thesis Option, Online: The M.S. degree in EES may be completed online. Students must apply through the normal graduate school application process but also indicate their intent to pursue the online option. Once admitted, students are subject to the same guidelines for in-person M.S. students. The expectation is that online M.S. students will select the non-thesis option. Although not required, online students who are working full-time will have the option to select a special project related to their employment. In rare cases, an online student may opt to follow the thesis option.

Graduate Degree

Any student with an engineering or science undergraduate degree accepted by the EEES Department and the Graduate School may pursue an M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering and Science (EES).

For admission to the M.S. EES program, an applicant should have a grade point ratio/average (GPR/GPA) of at least 3.0 out of 4.0.

B.S. to M.S.

Clemson University undergraduate majors in Biosystems Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering who have earned a grade-point average of 3.4 or above and completed 90 credit hours can begin work toward a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Science while completing a Bachelor of Science degree. The undergraduate curriculum allows up to eight or nine credits of mutually acceptable graduate course credits to satisfy requirements of both degrees.

How to Apply

Science majors with a strong mathematics background are admitted to the department with appropriate prerequisites. The transcripts of such prospective students are reviewed individually to identify any undergraduate prerequisites or co-requisites needed to prepare them for the EES program. A graduate of an engineering or science discipline is expected to have completed at some time during their academic career the equivalent of two semesters each of general chemistry and calculus-based physics and four semesters of calculus through multivariable calculus and ordinary differential equations. Prerequisite coursework is prescribed to fill gaps in these areas.