MSc Environmental Science

M.Sc in Environmental Science is a two year 4 semester program of Tribhuvan University. Students in this program can specialize in many different areas such as engineering, conservation, ecology, biology and chemistry. Generally speaking, the graduate will work in areas related to locating and protecting the earth’s resources. This can include predicting hazards and advising on issues related to regulatory compliance. Students can narrow their focus to areas of particular interest during the course of study.

At present there are many global environmental issues. Nepal is not exception to this problem as many of our cities or towns continue to be plagued by air pollution as well as many other environmental problems. Our rivers suffer the effects of poorly treated sewage and industrial discharges. Deterioration of environment and loss of biodiversity are linked with poverty. Moreover, a wave of concern for environment swept across the developed world in the sixties and reached its climax in 1970 with the celebration of ‘The Earth Day’ under the auspices of The United Nation. After that the need for environmental education was keenly felt at the national level in Nepal.

In border terms, environmental science is a multidisciplinary science that deals with the study of natural resources, their degradation, and pollution, fate of species and role of human beings for the conservation of environment. Keeping this in view, this syllabus has been designed to provide knowledge to the students about the importance of protection and conservation of our environment and the need to restrain human activities, which may lead to indiscriminate release of pollutants into the environment. 

This knowledge will also enable the students to evolve the best way of dealing with seriously endangered life support systems and develop skills to ensure that there will a minimum damage in development works so as to make developmental activities sustainable for a long-term. Besides these the syllabus has highlighted the necessary and essential aspects of Natural Sciences for understanding the newer environmental issues that have become focus of the environmental attention in more recent years. Emphasis has been given to topics such as air pollution, water pollution, biodiversity, forest and land degradation, hazard waste, risk assessment, global climate change, flood and drought, stratospheric ozone depletion and ecotoxicology which are among the most crucial environmental problems of this millennium.

Objectives:

The main objectives of the course are:

• To make the master degree program in environmental science more relevant to the professional needs and the development of community and country
• To provide knowledge to the students about spheres of the earth and their interrelationships that makes the suitable conditions for the existence of life
• To provide the students an overview of the ecological principles, processes, types and functions of ecosystems, natural and man made change of the landscape
• To familiarize and equip the students with appropriate methods used in environmental management including theoretical, practical and field based knowledge of application
• To acquaint students with the available natural resources of the country and their conservation
• To expose the students to environmental issues and problems
• To provide the students the knowledge about various forms of energy, their uses and conservation
• To develop an understanding of impacts of human activities on the environment and the mitigation measures used to reduce these effects
• To provide knowledge about emission and transport of various pollutants in air, water and soil and their effects including the technique adopted for reducing such emissions
• To provide knowledge about human population growth and regulation
• To acquaint the students with international theory, the practical process and methods of performing an EIA as a tool for sustainable development
• To make the students able to apply techniques used in interpretation of remotely sensed data
• To provide the knowledge about environment laws from a variety of perspectives in order to protect the environment
• To develop problem solving skills, particularly in environmental conservation and sustainable development
• To make the students able to take up the responsibility as environmental managers, experts and teachers