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Environmental Sciences
Dr. S. Brad Cook , Director
OVERVIEW
The Doctor of Philosophy degree program in Environmental Sciences offers a concentration in either biology or chemistry but emphasizes the solution of complex environmental problems using an interdisciplinary approach. Course work is required in biology, chemistry, geology, agriculture, and sociology. This interdisciplinary approach insures that students become aware of a wide range of environmental concerns and that their research includes a breadth of environmental understanding beyond the boundaries of a particular discipline. The goal of the program is to prepare students for careers in research, management, government service, teaching, and other areas where they can make productive contributions to the solution of environmental problems.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Applicants for admission to the doctoral program in Environmental Sciences must have:
- a bachelor’s or master’s degree in science, mathematics, engineering, or environmental science;
- a grade point average of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale;
- international students must have a score of 525 or above on the TOEFL;
- and a combined score of at least 1000 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the exam.
Applicants seeking admission with Full Standing in the program must satisfy the following departmental requirements:
Biology
- applicants must have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a biological science
- a grade point average of 3.5 or above for the highest degree earned
- a minimum combined score of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the exam.
In addition, a graduate faculty member must have agreed to direct the student’s doctoral program and financial support must have been identified for a stipend and for research needs.
Chemistry
- applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in chemistry that has been certified by the American Chemical Society or course work equivalent to this degree;
- applicants must have one year each of general, organic, and physical chemistry;
- applicants must have one semester of analytical and inorganic chemistry, one semester of instrumental analysis.
Applicants who do not fully meet the above requirements may be admitted in Provisional Standing on the basis of a favorable recommendation to the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies by the appropriate departmental chairperson and the Director of the Environmental Sciences doctoral program. If admitted in Provisional Standing, the student must remove all deficiencies and apply for reclassification to Full Standing prior to the completion of 15 hours of graduate work.
Application materials may be obtained from the Graduate School Office.
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
The general requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Environmental Sciences are:
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A minimum of 61 semester credits of course work and doctoral
research and dissertation as follows:
- A minimum of 43 semester credits of course work beyond the bachelor’s degree. This must include 13 semester credits chosen from EVSA 6010, EVSG 6010, EVSS 6010, EVS 7910, and either EVSB 6010 or EVSC 6010 and must include at least 12 semester credits at the 7000 level.
- A minimum of 18 semester credits of research and dissertation, resulting in the satisfactory completion of a doctoral dissertation.
- Residence of four semesters beyond the bachelor’s level, with at least two semesters in continuous residence.
- Completion of all requirements for the degree, including the dissertation within a period of eight consecutive years.
- Maintenance of a general grade point average of 3.0.
- Satisfactory completion of a comprehensive examination.
- Satisfactory presentation and defense of a doctoral dissertation.
In addition, a student must adhere to all policies and procedures governing graduate study at the University, as contained in the Graduate Catalog and administered by the Associate Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies.
Guidelines for Graduate Committee Composition
The organization and appointment of advisory committees to supervise graduate study for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Sciences shall be the same, generally, as in the master’s program, except that the advisory committee shall consist of at least five members of the Graduate Faculty, plus the Director of Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program who serves as an ex officio, nonvoting member. Three members shall be from the student’s area of concentration, either Biology or Chemistry. Two members shall be from separate departments of the environmental science core outside the student’s area of concentration. Changes in a Ph.D. advisory committee must adhere to all policies and procedures governing graduate study at the University, as contained in the Graduate Catalog and administered by the Associate Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies.
Guidelines for the Comprehensive Examination
Prerequisites. Before requesting that his or her major professor schedule a Comprehensive Examination, a student must:
- have achieved Full Standing in the program
- completed approximately 80 percent of the course work in his/her Program of Study
Descriptions
The test will consist of written and/or oral portions.
The student’s advisory portion will consist of four sections. Total time for each section should not exceed eight hours. Three sections will contain material from the student’s area of concentration and one section will integrate material from the Environmental Sciences Core Curriculum.
If an oral exam is to be included as part of the comprehensive exam it will be administered by the student’s advisory committee within three weeks of the successful completion of the written portion of the exam. A question will be included in the oral exam that tests the student’s understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of Environmental Sciences.
If an oral exam is included as part of the comprehensive exam, both portions of the Comprehensive Examination will be completed during one academic semester.
Results
Four-fifths of the voting members of the committee must agree that the student has successfully completed the comprehensive exam.
The student will be given one additional opportunity to pass each portion of the Comprehensive Examination. Failure to pass either portion on the second try will result in the student’s dismissal from the Ph.D. program.
A written evaluation of the student’s performance on the Comprehensive Examination will be prepared by the student’s advisory committee and kept on file in the office of the Director of the Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program.
Time Constraints
Successful completion of the Comprehensive Examination must be achieved in a timely fashion. The complete Comprehensive Examination must be scheduled and taken within a year following the completion of 80 percent of the course work in the student’s Program of Study, including successful completion of all core courses. It shall be the student’s responsibility, in consultation with his/her advisor, to schedule this examination at a date agreeable to the whole examining committee. The committee shall be given at least two months advance notice of the Examination date in order to make preparations. Any second attempts to pass portions of the Comprehensive Examination must be scheduled in the subsequent (Fall/Spring) semester. Failure to follow these procedures shall result in the student’s dismissal from the program. Any appeal by the student for exceptions to this policy shall be made in writing and submitted to the Executive Committee of the Ph.D. program.
COURSES
EVSA 6010. Environmental Agriculture. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Provides a summary of the actual and/or relative environmental impacts of existing and emerging agricultural production technologies.
EVSG 6010. Environmental Geology. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Introduction to geology and the application of geologic knowledge to issues and potential solutions of problems arising from the interaction of human activities and natural earth processes.
EVSS 6010. Environmental Social Policy. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Social, political, legal and scientific issues that influence environmental policy decisions.
EVS 7910. Environmental Science Seminar. Lec. 1. Cr. 1.
Discussions and reports on the current literature and research in environmental science.
BIOLOGY
EVSB 6010. Environmental Biology. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Biological concepts, community and ecosystem structure and function, population biology, water pollution, land and wildlife resources, endangered and threatened species, resource management, human impact, and environmental economics. This course cannot be taken for credit toward graduation by students with a degree or concentration in biology or wildlife and fisheries sciences.
EVSB 7050. Environmental Risk Assessment. Lec. 2. Lab. 2. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: BIOL 6060, EVSC 6010, or consent of instructor. Assessment of ecological risk associated with new chemicals and effluents, existing chemicals and mixtures of chemicals, and human actions.
EVSB 7060. Ecological Toxicology. Lec. 2. Lab. 2. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: BIOL 6060, EVSC 6010, or consent of instructor. A study of the mechanisms of toxicity in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including the measurement of response, uptake, metabolism, and excretion of toxicants; design and interpretation of toxicity tests, hazard evaluation, risk assessment, and toxics reduction plans; fate and transport processes and advanced approaches in automated computer-assisted monitoring will be evaluated.
EVSB 7110. Environmental Approaches to Fisheries Management. Lec. 3. Lab. 2. Cr. 4.
Prerequisite: WFS 5710 and BIOL 6630, or consent of instructor. An in-depth analysis of current fisheries management practices assessed from the ecosystem perspective.
EVSB 7120. Endangered Species Biology. Lec. 3. Lab. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: EVSB 6010 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. The biology, ecology, management, and recovery of threatened and endangered species.
EVSB 7130. Wetlands Ecology. Lec. 3. Lab. 3. Cr. 4.
Prerequisite: EVSB 6010 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Ecology and legal issues concerning the management of wetland habitats and species.
EVSB 7140. Wildlife and Fisheries Nutrition. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
The nutritional and foraging ecology of wild fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
EVSB 7150. Population and Community Ecology. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2130 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Empirical and theoretical concepts in ecology at the population and community levels, including population growth and regulation, species interactions, community assembly and dynamics, metapopulation ecology, and landscape ecology.
EVSB 7210. New and Re-emerging Environmental Human Pathogens. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: 7 hours of microbiology courses or equivalent. Aspects of emerging human pathogens, including case histories of outbreaks, methods of detection in food and water, and techniques for enumeration and identification.
EVSB 7220. Molecular Ecology and Evolution Seminar. Lec. 1. Cr. 1.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2130 and BIOL 4150, and consent of instructor. Review of current literature concerning application of modern molecular techniques to solve ecological and evolutionary questions. Course may be taken up to 3 times for credit.
EVSB 7230. Molecular Ecology and Evolution. Lec. 3. Lab. 3. Cr. 4.
Role of molecular techniques in the study of ecology and evolution, including techniques used to study phylogeny, microorganism detection, population structure, gene flow, and kinship.
EVSB 7240. Computers and Molecular Ecology. Lec. 2. Lab. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: EVSB 7230 (Molecular Ecology and Evolution) or equivalent, or consent of instructor. The use and application of computer programs and Internet databases for studying molecular ecology and evolution.
EVSB 7310. Plant Ecology. Lec. 3. Lab. 3. Cr. 4.
Prerequisite: BIOL 2130, 5240, or consent of instructor. Interrelationships between plants and their environment and evaluation of community structure.
EVSB 7320. Aquatic Botany. Lec. 3. Lab. 3. Cr. 4.
Prerequisite: EVSB 7310 or consent of instructor. Anatomy, ecology, morphology, physiology, reproductive biology, evolution, and taxonomy/systematics of aquatic plants.
EVSB 7900. Research Design in Environmental Biology. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: Consent of research advisory committee. Literature investigation and development of an original research proposal outside the student’s doctoral dissertation research.
EVSB 7970. Topics in Environmental Biology. Lab. 2-8. Cr. 1-4.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Special study in an approved field under the supervision of a member of the graduate faculty. Course may be taken for credit more than once for a maximum of 6 hours of credit.
EVSB 7990. Research and Dissertation. Cr. 1-9.
CHEMISTRY
EVSC 6010. Environmental Chemistry. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing in environmental sciences; one year of chemistry. This is a broad-based course applying the fundamentals of chemistry to the environment. This course cannot be taken for credit toward graduation by students with a concentration in chemistry.
EVSC 7110. Water, Soil, and Air Chemistry—Part I. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: CHEM 5520, 5710, or consent of instructor. Composition of waters and soils; kinetics and thermodynamics of environmental chemical and physical processes in waters and soils. Equilibrium modeling exercises are employed to prepare students for professional activities, and to reinforce course material.
EVSC 7120. Water, Soil, and Air Chemistry—Part II. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: EVSC 7110 or consent of instructor. Electrochemistry and solubility of soil minerals. Kinetics, reaction dynamics, photochemistry, and heterogeneous phase chemistry of the troposphere and stratosphere. Students will become familiar with watershed modeling and the use of geographical information systems in environmental chemistry.
EVSC 7210. Organic Chemistry in the Environment. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: CHEM 3520 and 6210 or consent of instructor. Introduction to specific organic compounds, their physical and chemical properties, chemical and photochemical transformation reactions and mechanisms in the environment, and literature case studies effectively used in their decontamination.
EVSC 7900. Research Design in Environmental Chemistry. Lec. 3. Cr. 3.
Prerequisite: Full Standing in Ph.D. program in environmental sciences, completion of core courses, and consent of research advisory committee. Literature investigation of a current area of environmental research leading to the development of a research proposal on a topic not related to student’s doctoral dissertation research.
EVSC 7970. Special Topics in Environmental Chemistry. Lec. 1-3. Lab. 0-3. Cr. 1-4.
Prerequisite: Full Standing in Ph.D. program in environmental sciences or consent of instructor. Timely topics in environmental chemistry. Course may be taken for credit more than once.
EVSC 7990. Research and Dissertation. Cr. 1- 9.
Page last updated: 4/4/07
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