Established in 1994 as the Department of Environmental Studies, the department took its present name - Department of Environmental Science and Management (DESM) - in 2004. Establishment of an environment department by NSU reflects huge opportunity that has opened up for environmental graduates in the national and international job markets. After consolidating the undergraduate study programs over
last 15 years, the department has started graduate study program in 2009, with the funding support of CIDA and academic collaboration with the Natural Resource Institute (NRI) of University of Manitoba, Canada. Students - of both BS in Environmental Science and BS in Environmental Management - are required to successfully complete 130 credits. The curriculum is comprised of 82 credits of core courses for students of both streams, 15 credits of respective stream's concentration core courses, 15 credits of concentration electives, 6 credits of open electives and 12 credits of general education (GED) courses such as English sustainable development and economic geography. As part of NSU's dual degree program, DESM students can also earn a major or minor in another discipline (e.g., in economics or business) similar to economics or business students' scope of doing a major or minor in environmental science or environmental management. All DESM students are required to do internship which offers opportunity to work with national and international organizations working in the environmental field. Because of its multidisciplinary curriculum with wide-ranging courses, DESM graduates are able to avail higher study opportunity abroad in fields of environmental science and engineering; environmental policy and sustainable development; urban planning and environmental management; natural resource management; ecology, toxicology and epidemiology; environmental and natural resource economics; environmental law or disaster management. MS in Environmental Science and Management
The graduate program – MS in Environmental Science and Management (MESM) originally established as MS in Resource and Environmental Management (MREM) – in collaboration with the University of Manitoba, Canada. This program is focused on building environmental and natural resource governance and management capacity in Bangladesh. The course content was jointly developed by University of Manitoba and NSU, as part of the CIDA funded project on Building Environmental Governance Capacity in Bangladesh (BEGCB). It admits students from different academic backgrounds, with emphasis on gender equity . Major Features of Graduate Curriculum
This professional master’s program, conducted in the evenings, requires about 12 to 16 months to complete 39 credits, which are structured as follows:
6 credits in 2 foundation courses
21 credits of core courses
9/6 credits of elective courses
3/6 credits through field practicum/thesis writing
Instead of doing thesis, the option is to do a semester-wide field work. In this instance, their 6 credit will comprise of one course and a field work report, each worth 3 credits. Most DESM faculty members have PhD degree from reported universities. Faculty research interests include pollution control, sustainable resource management, land use, climate change, environmental economics and policy, urban environmental management, environmental health, environmental toxicology, water resource management, waste management, environmental valuation and impact assessment, biogas and biofuel production, etc. Collaborative Research and Training
Post Graduate Diploma program on ETP Management in collaboration with the German Development Corporation (giz) and the German Association for Water , Wastewater and Waste (DWA). Environmental Health and Safety (EHS+) Training Centre funded by the Institute of Sustainable Community (ISC), USA to provide training to mid-level officers on compliance related issues. A two-year project on biodiversity conservation through the protection and restoration of water sources of Pablakhali Protected Area in Rangamati district, funded by the World Bank (January 2014-December 2015). Longitudinal study to understand details of migration in selected areas of Bangladesh, funded by icddr,b (2014-2015). Certificate course on Environmental Impact Assessment and GIS for graduate students and professionals, jointly with Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS).
