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/International Study ProgramIt is well recognized that rapid economic development brings with it serious environmental problems such as deforestation, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, pollution and climatic change. Such environmental problems are not confine by political boundaries; they must be solved at the global level through co-operation between nations. It was with these problems in mind that Chiang Mai University, Thailand and the University of Saarland, Federal Republic of Germany, with financial support from the German Government via the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), devised this international M.S. Program in Environmental Risk Assessment for Tropical Ecosystems, ERA at the beginning. The main aim is to bring together students from different countries and to provide them with the expertise needed to improve the quality of the environment throughout the Asian region.
The program was inaugurated in June 1992, at the same time as a United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil. Since then, 51 students from various countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, P.R. of China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Thailand with diverse backgrounds ranging from biologists, chemists, toxicologists and agronomists to environmental engineers, have graduated from the program.
In 1997, the revised curriculum was introduced. The program was renamed as Master of Science in Environmental Science, with the emphasis on Environmental Risk Assessment for Tropical Ecosystems (ERA).
The program is designed for scientists and technologist with a background in environmental sciences, biology, chemistry, geology, geography, public health or related fields. It provides students with the basic tools and concepts of environmental monitoring and emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to the assessment, analysis and solving of environmental problems.
Students who successfully complete the program will be competent in such activities as pollution monitoring, ecosystem rehabilitation and the preparation of environmental impact assessments for development projects. They will be suitable for employment by international development agencies, private environmental consulting agencies, and environmental related government departments and institutuion. The program also provides a firm basis for students wishing to pursue further study towards a Ph.D. or embark on an academic career.