Ecology and Evolutionary Biology - PhD

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The curriculum is designed to encourage maximum student choice and independence while maintaining a close student-advisor relationship. Students are encouraged to adopt a broad, integrative view of science and biological research. Course offerings cover such areas as animal and plant physiology, plant ecology, plant-animal interactions, population biology, structural and evolutionary biology, systematic biology, environmental toxicology, marine/estuarine ecology, and the biology of diverse groups of plants and animals. Students participate in an active departmental seminar program and informal research discussion groups.

Students are accepted into either the master's or the doctoral program. Upon entering, students are assigned a temporary faculty advisor and are informally examined in Genetics, General Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology; based upon the results of that examination, the department makes recommendations as to the student's future course of study. By the end of the first year the student must select a permanent advisor, and by the end of the second year all formal course work is usually completed. After two years, master's students normally will have completed all requirements for their degree; the doctoral degree normally requires four or five years of study leading to the production of a publishable dissertation.

Students admitted to the PhD program in the EEB Department are eligible for five years of support (including TAs, RAs, fellowships) contingent on satisfactory progress towards the degree, and may receive a sixth year of support with satisfactory demonstration of need, as  decided by the student’s dissertation committee and the departmental Graduate Affairs Committee. No support will be provided by the EEB department beyond the sixth year. The EEB department and SSE require successful defense of the dissertation by the end of year seven.