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The Graduate Program

Graduate Program

The Entomology Department does not offer an undergraduate major leading to a bachelor of science degree. However, a variety of courses of both a basic and applied nature are offered by Departmental faculty. Course offerings are coordinated with the needs of other Departments both within and outside of the College of Agriculture. Service courses taught by the Department include a general course that serves as part of the University Core Curriculum (Area 7, Global Issues), as well as several courses designed to meet the educational needs of students in Horticulture, Environmental Science, Fisheries and Wildlife, and Forestry. Basic courses are also provided as part of a cross-listed curriculum with the Biology Department.

M.S. Program

A Graduate Advisory Committee is formed for each student during his/her first semester. This committee is chaired by the student's Major Professor and has at least 2 other members. For each student, a plan of study is determined by The Graduate Advisory Committee according to the student's background and area of desired specialization. All graduate students are required to demonstrate competency in basic insect biology and statistics. Entering students are expected to have completed courses in calculus, organic chemistry, and physics upon admission to Graduate School. If any of these courses are lacking, the student will be required to correct the course deficiency. M.S. students must take at least one course in three core areas:

For the thesis-based M.S., 20 credit hours of course work and 10 credit hours of research are required. With successful completion of both course work and research (thesis) requirements, M.S. students will receive an M.S. in Life Sciences with a Concentration in Entomology. For a non-thesis M.S., a minimum of 30 credit hours of course work is required. In addition to course work, these students must complete an internship and a project. The Advisory Committee will supervise the selection and conduct of the internship and project, and will conduct a Final Oral Examination. NOTE: a non-thesis Masters Degree is intended to be a terminal degree and is not a satisfactory prerequisite for continuing on toward a Ph.D.

Ph.D. Program

Successful completion of a thesis-based M.S. in entomology or related field is required for admission to the Ph.D. program. A Graduate Advisory Committee is formed for each student during his/her first semester. This committee is chaired by the student's Major Professor and has a minimum of 5 members, at least one from outside the Department. Ph.D. students are expected to demonstrate competency in their area of specialization and are required to take a minimum of 27 hours of courses numbered 5000 or higher as part of a plan of study determined by their Graduate Advisory Committee. Candidates for the Ph.D. must demonstrate breadth of experience in at least one topic apart from the major area of study. This enrichment experience must be approved by the Graduate Advisory Committee and may take the form of foreign language, business, computer science or other pre-approved topic.

Course Recomendations and Options

Biometry (STAT 5605 & 5606) is recommended for students without a previous course in statistics. Students with some background in statistics should consider Statistics in Research (STAT 5615 & 5616). Additional coursework may be required to help with the student's research. Other recommended courses are Experimental Design (STAT 4204), Contingency Table Analysis (STAT 4514), Sample Survey Methods (STAT 4524), and Nonparametric Statistics (STAT 5404).

In addition to formal courses, students may take advantage of experiential learning opportunities such as museum insect collection curatorship, extension apprenticeship, or development of multimedia teaching materials. Credit can be obtained by enrolling in Project and Report (ENT 5904) or Advanced Topics in Entomology (ENT 6004). Experiential learning credits will count towards graduation, but cannot be used to replace core courses. As with all coursework, experiential learning credits must be approved as part of the student's plan of study.

Students with appropriate interests may also participate in the Molecular Cell Biology Program while pursuing their studies in Entomology. The Molecular Cell Biology Program emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of modern biology and helps students apply molecular approaches to their research. An integrated core curriculum, to be taken by all students, consists of three parts:

  1. Principles of Molecular Cell Biology;
  2. Topics in Molecular Cell Biology;
  3. Seminar in Molecular Cell Biology. This core curriculum will be taken in addition to all Departmental course requirements.

Teacher Recertification

The Department has occasionally offered a sequence of three 1-credit courses in entomology for teachers under the ENT 5984 Special Studies listing; Entomology for Elementary Teachers, Aquatic Entomology for Teachers, and Hands-on Insect Activities for Elementary Education. These courses were designed to provide teachers with sufficient background in entomology to incorporate studies of insects into their elementary curriculum. The sequence totals 3 credits which is the requirement for the 5-year recertification of teachers.