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Curriculum

The objectives guiding student development and education in the EEB program are set down at the following Web page.

Program Learning Objectives

Credits Required for the MS and PhD

For the MS degree, at least 30 graduate credits of course work must be earned, including 10 credits of research (EEB 699).

For the PhD degree, at least 72 graduate credits must be earned, of which at least 36 credits, including all dissertation credits (EEB 699), must be earned under the direction of the student's Program of Study Committee (more on the Committee below).

Graduate credits earned at other institutions may be transferred and applied to a graduate degree at ISU if approved by the student's Program of Study Committee and the ISU Graduate College.

EEB Courses

The EEB program offers four unique courses for graduate students. These, and the core courses indicated below, constitute the backbone of the EEB curriculum.

EEB 585. Extended Field Trip [Learn More]
Two credits, each time taken. Prerequisite: graduate classification. Annual field trip to a region of North America to study the major terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem types of the region. Report required.

EEB 590. Special Topics
One to three credits, each time taken. Prerequisite: graduate classification and permission of instructor.

EEB 698. Seminar [Learn More]
One credit, each time taken. Reports and discussion of recent research and literature.

EEB 699. Research
One to twelve credits.

Organization for Tropical Studies Courses

You may substitute a course with the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) for EEB 585. The fee for an OTS course is substantial, so if you wish to pursue this option, you will need to seek monetary support from your department and college as well as the EEB Supervisory Committee. Please contact the EEB Program Office for details.

Credits taken with the OTS transfer to ISU as the following graduate courses.

OTS 510, Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach.
This course is designed for students in the early stages of graduate study in biology or a related field, with the goal of training graduate students in research methods by providing intensive field experience in diverse tropical ecosystems.

OTS 515, Topics in Tropical Biology.
This course is designated for students enrolled in graduate course offerings other than OTS 510. Examples of available graduate courses include Tropical Plant Systematics, Tropical Ecology and Conservation, Molecular Methods in Tropical Ecology & Tropical Agroecology.

Students must obtain transcripts of their OTS course(s) for submission to the Graduate College if they wish to apply the credit to their Program of Study.

Curriculum Revision

In 2006, the EEB faculty voted to revise the program curriculum. The implementation of this revision is ongoing, with development of specific, new core courses pending.

Until all details are fully worked out, students may choose between two curriculum channels to meet EEB program of study requirements.

For a summary of the current curriculum requirements in table form, please see the following link.

Curriculum Summary Table

Explanation of details follows below and may also be found in the EEB Handbook.

EEB Curriculum Channel 1

All students, MS and PhD, must successfully complete the core course "Principles of Evolutionary Ecology."

Please note: This course remains under development. Until fully completed, students may fulfill the core course requirement by enrolling in EEOB 514, Evolutionary Ecology, for 3 credits and supplementing this enrollment with a designated EEOB 590 section for 1 credit. For enrollment information, please contact eeboffice@iastate.edu.

All MS students must take at least one graduate course in ecology or evolutionary biology; all PhD students must take at least two such courses. Suitable courses should be selected in consultation with your Program of Study Committee.

All MS students must enroll in the EEB graduate seminar (EEB 698) at least once; all PhD students must enroll in 698 at least twice.

All MS and PhD students must successfully complete at least one course in statistics or quantitative methods. The selection of an appropriate course (or courses) should be discussed with your Program of Study Committee and is subject to the approval of the committee and EEB DOGE.

All MS and PhD students must participate at least once in an extended field trip, EEB 585. A fee is charged for this course, which is used to cover travel costs. PhD students who participated in EEB 585 while earning an MS at ISU are not required to repeat the course, although it is recommended that they do so if enrolled numbers permit.

All students are required to present a public seminar related to the defense of their thesis or dissertation research.

EEB Curriculum Channel 2

All students must take courses from two core areas:

1) ecology and 2) evolutionary biology.

For the MS degree, you must enroll in one course from each of the core areas; for the PhD degree, you must take one course from each of the core areas, plus one course selected from an approved list (see below).

1) Ecology

EEOB/ A Ecl 531 Conservation Biology

EEOB 539 Environmental Physiology

EEOB/ A Ecl 570 Landscape Ecology

EEOB 576 Functional Ecology

EEOB 584 Ecosystem Ecology

EEOB 585 Advanced Community Ecology

EEOB/ A Ecl 589 Population Ecology

2) Evolutionary Biology

EEOB 514	Evolutionary Ecology
EEOB 562	Evolutionary Genetics
EEOB 563	Molecular Phylogenetics
EEOB 566	Molecular Evolution
EEOB 567	Empirical Population Genetics
EEOB/ Ent 568	Advanced Systematics
EEOB 569	Biogeography

Approved Course List for PhD Students. Please see the following link.

Approved PhD Course List - Curriculum Channel 2

Seminar (EEB 698) and field trip (EEB 585) requirements in Curriculum Channel 2 are identical to Curriculum Channel 1. Likewise, all students must present a public thesis/dissertation defense seminar.

The Program of Study Committee

Each student must choose a major professor from the EEB faculty, who will serve as the chair of that individual's Program of Study (POS) Committee. The POS Committee is composed of faculty who direct and supervise the student's selection of courses and overall progress towards a graduate degree.

The POS Committee for MS students must have at least three members, with no less than two members holding graduate faculty status in EEB.

The POS Committee for PhD students must have at least five members, with no less than three members holding graduate faculty status in EEB.

All students majoring in EEB must present a description of their research to their Committee at or before the time they submit their proposed Program of Study for approval.

The Program of Study (POS)

The Program of Study is a list of courses, determined by negotiation among the student, major professor, and other Committee members, that constitutes a contract for earning a graduate degree. It includes core courses, approved courses, and electives appropriate to each individual student's educational goals.

Exams and Theses/Dissertations

Both MS and PhD students must take a final oral exam to complete their degree. A Preliminary Oral Exam, which includes a written component, is required of PhD students for admission to candidacy.

Completing a degree in EEB involves composing and successfully defending a thesis for the MS or dissertation for the PhD. All students are required to present a departmental seminar as part of their thesis/dissertation oral defense.

For More Information.....

For more information on all topics in this section, please see the Graduate College Handbook and/or contact Charles Sauer, the EEB program coordinator.