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Great Lakes Center brings new MA program to natural sciences
By Jasmine A. Willis
On May 2, 2013
The Great Lakes Center has two new master's degree programs coming next fall semester, both
a part of the Great Lakes Ecosystem Science program. They will be a Master of Science and a
Master of Arts.
The MA will be a more traditional program, requiring students to do a research project and write
a thesis.
The MS program is a little different. Students will take "plus courses" in addition to the science
classes they are already taking. The "plus courses" will be things such as Project Management
and Business Communication.
They will also be required to take an internship outside of the college. This will replace the
research project and thesis they would normally have to write.
Director of the Great Lakes Center Alexander Karatayev said both programs provide graduates
with the opportunity to attain a broad understanding of the physical, chemical, biological
and social factors that comprise the Great Lakes ecosystems, while at the same time offering
graduates the depth they need in a particular discipline to prepare them for entry into a Ph.D.
program or into the workforce.
Dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences, Mark Severson, said he believes this will be
a very successful program for graduate students.
"The intent of programs like this is that students will be able to have the background with these
extra courses, plus the internship," he said. "I expect them to step right into a company and get a
great job."
Severson said these programs have taken years of planning by many of the faculty in several
departments. Although the programs are housed in The Great Lakes Center, they will collaborate
with the Geography and Planning, Biology, Earth Science and Science Education Departments.
Program Coordinator and Chair of the Geography and Planning Department, Kelly Frothingham,
has worked directly with the Great Lakes Center to bring these programs to Buffalo State.
"Developing these programs has taken quite a while, so I'm really pleased that we have them in
place now, "she said.
Frothingham said that although faculty members have been advising master's students on Great
Lakes environmental research for a long time through the College's Multidisciplinary Studies
program, they still needed more structure.
"That worked well, but we needed a more structured program and students wanted a master's
with a degree title that better reflected the content of the program," she said.
Severson said these programs will allow students to address environmental issues from a
scientific point of view.
With water from four of the five Great Lakes flowing past the Great Lakes Center Field Station
at the mouth of Lake Erie, both programs offer extensive hands-on experience. The field station
maintains three large research vessels and a fleet of smaller boats.
Karatayev said in a press release that these programs meet a need for trained people with
questions and concerns about the Great Lakes.
"Throughout the Great Lakes region, we see questions and concerns relating to water quantity
and quality, lake diversion, climate change, land use change, brownfield development, and
invasive species," Karatayev said. "Our new programs will prepare students to bring scientific
solutions to these issues."
Cornell University awarded Alexander Karatayev and Lyubov Burlakova a $1.1 million grant.
The five-year grant will enable a team of researchers to study the lower trophic (food web) levels
of all the Great Lakes from Lake Superior to Lake Ontario.
"During this project we will collect zooplankton, benthos and chlorophyll data across the five
Great Lakes data from 2013 to 2017, analyze this data, and make it available to environmental
and fisheries managers," Karatayev said. "For the GLC this will be an excellent opportunity to
expand our research activity to all Great Lakes, to increase our visibility among Great Lakes
research community, and to further strengthen our collaboration with our colleagues from
Cornell."
Frothingham said interested students will need to go to The Great Lakes Center page to apply
and that all requirements will be listed there. Severson said that he expects up to six students in
the first year and he wants that to double in the next few years.
Jasmine Willis can be reached by email at willis.record@live.com.
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