California State Capitol Building located in Sacramento
Training the next generation of environmental leaders

The Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management

affiliated with the UC Davis Institute of the Environment, provides advanced training in applying environmental science to real-world environmental policy and management issues. The program leverages the position of UC Davis as among the world’s strongest campuses in environmental and natural resources research and science.

The EPM program sets itself apart by targeting students with interdisciplinary backgrounds who seek applied professional careers in environmental policy and management. The focus is on building quantitative skills for practice-oriented careers in environmental policy and management.

About us

The EPM program is designed to address needs in several areas:

  • Students and employers often ask for better and more formal preparation to bridge the differences between scientific academic background and policy and management work, with emphasis on communicating technical information in various management and policy contexts.
  • Increased attention is being placed on the co-development of science for policy and management. Doing so requires training individuals with the interdisciplinary skills to understand both communities.
  • Environmental problem solving increasingly requires more analytical capability within a political and economic decision-making framework.
  • Real and rigorous problem-solving skills involving analysis, communication, and negotiation are needed for students with scientific backgrounds involved in policy-making and management positions.

 

Download our brochure

EPM News

Faculty Spotlight- Camille Frazier

Tell us about yourself

I grew up in the small foothills town of Jamestown, California, and now live in Sacramento with my husband and two daughters. My career spans research and policy contexts and has taken me from Los Angeles to India, northern New York to Sacramento. I have a BA from Scripps College in Claremont, CA, and an MA and PhD from UCLA.

Alumni Spotlight - Becky Haworth

This EPM alum graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Environmental Earth Sciences before completing the EPM program in 2025 with a specialization in Sustainable Food Systems. They now work as a Senior Environmental Scientist Specialist at CalRecycle, serving as a lead technical and policy expert on extended producer responsibility. They credit EPM with strengthening their project management, collaboration, and policy skills while preparing them for career growth within the State of California.

Assessing Directives and Outcomes of Microplastic Study Bills in the U.S.

What if one of the most widespread pollutants on Earth was already in your body? You may
have consumed microplastics today without realizing it. They could have been in your bottled
water, floating through the air, or shed from the clothes on your back. Once considered a distant
ocean pollution issue, microplastics are now found in Antarctic ice, deep ocean trenches,
mountain peaks, and even in human blood and brain tissue.