Environmental Biology

This hands-on concentration trains the next generation of researchers in the environmental biological sciences. Students must have the equivalent of an undergraduate major in biology. Many of your concentration courses will be taken in the Department of Biology. You will have the opportunity to carry out fieldwork and research in a wide range of ecosystems from urban Philadelphia city parks to the cloud forests of Puerto Rico.

Graduates with the Environmental Biology concentration frequently continue their environmental research at the PhD level, or work as biologists in environmental consulting, horticulture or ecology.

Student research

Your capstone project is a culmination of your classroom, research and internship experiences in the MES program. Your methods and results are unique to your professional and academic goals. Take a look at abstracts by recent MES students with a concentration in Environmental Biology to understand the breadth of capstone topics and formats.

• Environmental Biology Abstracts

Your capstone project is a culmination of your classroom, research and field experiences in the MES program. Your methods and results are unique to your professional and academic goals. Take a look at abstracts by recent MES students with a concentration in Environmental Biology to understand the breadth of capstone topics and formats.

• Return-on-Investment for Paid Tree Maintenance in Southwest Philadelphia by Ezra Francis Caspi ‘25
• Vertebrate and Invertebrate Herbivory Vary with Vegetation Type and Experimental Warming Conditions in High-Arctic Svalbard by Claire Bandet ‘25
• Utilizing Freshwater Mussel Data and Water Quality Parameters of Darby Creek for Water Quality Improvement Strategization by Rebecca Betts ‘26

Sample Environmental Biology concentration courses

In the Environmental Biology concentration, you will choose from a wide variety of courses in departments and graduate Schools across the University. The following list provides some examples of courses that the program has approved for students to take as part of this concentration.