Programs > Graduate

Marine Policy

The Master of Science degree in Marine Policy in the School of Marine Sciences is designed to take advantage of the strong interdisciplinary nature of the School. All students in the program will receive training in the social science aspects of marine resource management, in oceanography, in marine biology and other marine sciences, in marine law, and in empirical methods. In addition, students will be expected to gain expertise in either living natural resources or coastal zone management.

The program offers both a thesis and a non-thesis option. Students selecting the thesis option will write a master's thesis that combines theoretical work and practical experience applied to pressing problems. A student’s advisory committee must approve a thesis plan in the second semester of the student’s enrollment in the program.

Students selecting the non-thesis option will undertake an internship with a government agency, a non-governmental organization in the marine area, or a private firm directly concerned with management of marine natural resources. An internship involves working for the equivalent of three months, full time with the organization. Students in internships write a final paper linking their internship experience with the theoretical and practical literature on institutional management of marine resources. A student’s advisory committee must approve internship plans prior to beginning the internship.

Degree requirements

A total of 30 hours of course credits are required to complete the M.S. in Marine Policy. The program is designed to give students as much flexibility as possible so that they can take advantage of the various faculty specialties available to them within the School of Marine Sciences and elsewhere in the University. The student and his or her committee will design a program of study. The following courses must be included in each program:

SMS 552 Ecological Approaches to Marine Resource Management and
SMS 553 Institutions and the Management of Common Pool Resources

Additionally, students will take at least six hours in one of the following courses in order to complete the internship or thesis requirement.

SMS 683 - Internship in Marine Policy
SMS 699 - Graduate Thesis

Students will usually take all of their courses at the University of Maine either on the Orono campus or at the Darling Marine Center, but courses taken at the University of Maine School of Law (in Portland) or elsewhere may be credited toward the degree.

Programs of study

Students will be expected to develop special expertise in one area of marine resource management. Ordinarily, these specialties will be in the management of living natural resources or in coastal zone management. Students interested in other areas of specialization should consult with the program coordinator before matriculation.

Sample programs of study are illustrated here:

For a student primarily interested in fisheries management and enrolled only in the marine policy degree:

SMS 501 Biological Oceanography
SMS 531 Coral Reefs
SMS 551 Fisheries Management
SMS 552 Ecological Approaches to Marine Resource Management
SMS 553 Institutions and the Management of Common Pool Resources
SMS 557 Coastal Processes and Coastal Zone Management
SMS 562 Fish Population Dynamics
INT 563 Marine Benthic Ecology
MAT 437 Statistics Methods in Research
ECO 420 Microeconomics
SMS 699 Graduate Thesis

For a student primarily interested in coastal zone management and enrolled only in the marine policy degree:

SIE 509 Principles Geographic Information Systems
SMS 552 Ecological Approaches to Marine Resource Management
SMS 553 Institutions and the Management of Common Pool Resources
SMS 558 History of Uses and Abuses of the Coastal Zone
SMS 555 Resource Management in Cross-culture Perspectives
SMS 557 Coastal Processes and Coastal Zone Management
SMS 598 Special Topics: Ocean & Coastal Law and Policy
PAA 627 Environmental Policy and Management
ECO 420 Microeconomics
SMS 699 Graduate Thesis

Courses available to students

There is a large variety of courses within the School of Marine Sciences and elsewhere within the University that a student and his or her advisory committee can draw upon when designing a program of study. The list included below is intended to be illustrative only. Other courses that the student and his or her committee might find useful are not excluded.

REP 571 Advanced Environmental and Resource Economics
LAW 633 Natural Resources Law
LAW 637 Environmental Law
LAW 658 Law of the Sea
LAW 687 Marine Resource Law
SMS 501 Biological Oceanography
SMS 531 Coral Reefs
SMS 550 Fisheries Oceanography
SMS 555 Resource Management in Cross-cultural Perspective
SMS 556 Fisheries Management Problems of the Northwest Atlantic
SMS 558 History of Uses and Abuses of the Coastal Zone
WLE 540 Advanced Conservation Biology