Certificate in Environmental Education

Program Overview

In addition to, or in lieu of a M.Ed., a Certificate in Environmental Education can be pursued at UMD. The certificate is an educational program designed for professional educators who want to enhance their careers by obtaining formal training in environmental education. The target audience is school teachers (pre-K through 12) as well as educators at agencies and organizations such as environmental education centers. This program will provide a basic foundation of skills, knowledge, and techniques necessary for environmental educators.

Students will become competent in the following areas:

• Theoretical grounding of environmental education
• Instructional methods relevant to environmental education
• Developing environmental education lesson plans
• Classroom management skills
• Natural and cultural history interpretation
• Knowledge of resources (curricula, people, places) including the use of and access to those resources
• Conceptual understanding of basic ecological principles between social and natural systems

With approval of the student's graduate committee and the graduate program director, up to 15 credits of 5000-level course work from the certificate program can be applied to UMD's M.Ed. in environmental education degree.

*Please note: The option discussed above is for students who wish to obtain the Certificate in Environmental Education through UMD. If you are interested in earning the UMD Certificate in conjunction with the Wolf Ridge Naturalist Training Program, please visit our Wolf Ridge Information Page.

Application Information for EE Certificate Program

Admission is by application through Continuing Education at UMD. This program cannot be used toward degree requirements in undergraduate training.

Certificate Coursework

This program has been designed to provide 12-13 credits of core courses that will provide theoretical and practical application of environmental education concepts. An additional 5-6 elective credits will be required to strengthen competency in the appropriate area of training. For instance, a person who is strong in education training may choose to strengthen their natural sciences training. Conversely, students who have a strong training in the natural sciences may elect to gain further training in education methods. The total credits required is 18.