Most coursework requirements for EEB graduate students are identified during the student’s Preliminary Advisory Committee meeting. Students are expected to take graduate-level courses (or have equivalent knowledge) in ecology, evolution, and systematics. A student’s advisory committee may add course requirements to a student’s degree program during annual meetings. Listed below are specific course requirements for all doctoral students in the EEB department:
- Students must complete BIOL 701 Topics in Responsible Scholarship & Teaching Effectiveness during the first year of graduate education in the fall semester
- Students must complete BIOL 801 Current Research in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Seminar during the first year of graduate study in the spring semester.
- Students must complete a graduate-level course in statistics, typically fulfilled by completing BIOL 841 Biometry I. Alternatively, students may demonstrate equivalent background knowledge.
- Students pursuing the doctorate must complete at least one credit hour of BIOL 999 Doctoral Dissertation.
Botany
Students seeking a Ph.D. in botany must take a specialty seminar focusing on a plant-related topic and must complete a graduate-level course in each of the following three areas:
- plant ecology
- plant systematics or morphology
- plant development or physiology
Entomology
Students seeking a Ph.D. in entomology are required to take Biology of Insects (BIOL 500) and Laboratory in Insect Biology and Diversity (BIOL 502) unless they have taken equivalent courses.Students who have taken a course equivalent to BIOL 502 elsewhere still are encouraged to take BIOL 502 to familiarize themselves with the local insect fauna. In addition, students must take all three of the following courses:
- External Morphology of Insects (BIOL 708)
- Insect Systematics (BIOL 711)
- Insect Physiology and Internal Morphology (BIOL 716).
