Ecology and Environmental Sciences - PhD

The Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program (EES) at the University of Maine mission is to provide outstanding interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs that equip our students with the skills and knowledge necessary to address today’s complex environmental problems.

EES offers students courses and research opportunities with world-class faculty spanning over a dozen academic disciplines ranging from ecology to environmental engineering and anthropology.  The faculty and students are engaged in cutting-edge research on complex environmental problems in Maine’s forests, lakes, streams, marine and estuarine systems, agricultural systems and human communities.  The students in EES receive broad-based training in both biophysical sciences and social sciences.

The graduate program in Ecology and Environmental Sciences capitalizes on University strengths in ecology, environmental science, and environmental policy. Students can earn MS (thesis or non-thesis) and PhD degrees in Ecology and Environmental Sciences using an integrated interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of ecological and environmental problems.The EES graduate program includes faculty members across 14 academic departments who collectively represent a broad spectrum of expertise in the analysis of physical, chemical, biological, ecological, societal, environmental policy, and paleoecological aspects of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.

For the Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Sciences, the student must complete a minimum of 30 credits, a minimum of 18 course credits (12 credits 500 level or above), and a minimum of 6 credits thesis research. Most EES PhD students take many more credits than this. A program of study, including a list of courses to be taken, should be completed in consultation with your advisor and signed off by your entire graduate advisory committee. The student is expected to form a graduate advisory committee and to submit this fully signed program of study to the Ecology and Environmental Sciences Graduate Coordinator by the end of the second semester of study. The student’s graduate advisory committee will be composed of a minimum of five faculty from at least two different home departments.