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ECOLMS - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

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Ecology & Evolutionary BiologyGraduate Degree SeekingMS - Master of Science
Completion requirement

30

Completion requirement

Students must complete at least 30 units for a MS degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.  At least 15 of the 30 units must be graded units and at least 24 must be non-thesis units.  All master students are required to complete at least 1 thesis unit (course) in order to earn a thesis MS degree. It is expected that course work will consist of ECOL home courses.  

Required Courses

  • course: Thesis (1-6 units) - At least one unit must be completed, but no more than 6 units can be included on an official Plan of Study. 
    Students must fill the remaining 24 - 29 units from the Elective Courses listed below.

Per the Graduate College's requirements for the official Plan of Study, a minimum grade of C for each course is required (assuming the student's overall GPA remains 3.0 or higher, per Graduate College requirements).  

Completion requirement

Strongly recommended courses:

  • course: Fundamentals of Evolution (3)

  • course: Fundamentals of Ecology (3)

Other Elective Courses:

  • course: Conservation Biology (3)

  • course: Population Genetics (3)

  • course: Functional and Evolutionary Genomics (4)

  • course: Systematic Botany (4)

  • course: Topics in Behavioral Ecology (3)

  • course: Freshwater and Marine Algae (4)

  • course: Global Change (3)

  • course: Mathematical Models in Biology (3)

  • course: Ichthyology (4)

  • course: Herpetology (4)

  • course: Ornithology (4)

  • course: Mammalogy (4)

  • course: Biological Scaling (2-3)

  • course: Animal Behavior (3) AND course: Animal Behavior Lab (1)

  • course: Evolutionary Ecology (2)

  • course: Population Biology (1)

  • course: Biology of Introduced and Invasive Species (2)

  • course: Plant Population Ecology (2-3)

  • course: Special Topics in Ecology and Evolution A (1-3)

  • course: Special Topics in Ecology and Evolution B (1-3)

  • course: Research (1-8)

Additional courses within EEB are eligible to meet the coursework requirement upon approval of the major faculty advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.  Cross-listed courses and transfer credits will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Completion requirement
  • Major advisor must be a core or joint Ecology and Evolutionary Biology tenure/tenure-track/tenure-equivalent faculty member.

  • At least three faculty members are required for a Master's Committee. At least two of the three must be core faculty members of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

  • At least once each year beginning in the second year, students must meet with his/her Master's Committee.

  • Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA.

Completion requirement
Completion requirement

Minimum Credit Units

30 

Core Coursework Requirements

Students must complete at least 30 units for a MS degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.  At least 15 of the 30 units must be graded units and at least 24 must be non-thesis units.  All master students are required to complete at least 1 thesis unit (course) in order to earn a thesis MS degree. It is expected that course work will consist of ECOL home courses.  

Required Courses
course: Thesis, 1-6 units.  At least one unit must be completed, but no more than 6 units can be included on an official Plan of Study. 
Students must fill the remaining 24 - 29 units from the Elective Courses listed below.

Per the Graduate College's requirements for the official Plan of Study, a minimum grade of C for each course is required (assuming the student's overall GPA remains 3.0 or higher, per Graduate College requirements).  

 

Elective Coursework

Strongly recommended courses:

  • course: Fundamentals of Evolution (3)

  • course: Fundamentals of Ecology (3)

Other Elective Courses:

  • course: Conservation Biology (3)

  • course: Population Genetics (3)

  • course: Functional and Evolutionary Genomics (4)

  • course: Systematic Botany (4)

  • course: Topics in Behavioral Ecology (3)

  • course: Freshwater and Marine Algae (4)

  • course: Global Change (3)

  • course: Mathematical Models in Biology (3)

  • course: Ichthyology (4)

  • course: Herpetology (4)

  • course: Ornithology (4)

  • course: Mammalogy (4)

  • course: Biological Scaling (2-3)

  • course: Animal Behavior (3) AND course: Animal Behavior Lab (1)

  • course: Evolutionary Ecology (2)

  • course: Population Biology (1)

  • course: Biology of Introduced and Invasive Species (2)

  • course: Plant Population Ecology (2-3)

  • course: Special Topics in Ecology and Evolution A (1-3)

  • course: Special Topics in Ecology and Evolution B (1-3)

  • course: Research (1-8)

Additional courses within EEB are eligible to meet the coursework requirement upon approval of the major faculty advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.  Cross-listed courses and transfer credits will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

 

Additional Requirements

  • Major advisor must a core Ecology and Evolutionary Biology tenure/tenure-track/tenure-equivalent faculty member.

  • At least three faculty members are required for a Master's Committee.  At least two of the three must be core faculty members of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

  • At least once each year, beginning in the second year, students must meet with his/her Master's Committee.

 

Student Handbook

Please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for students who are pursuing this program of study.