Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

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http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/

Gary F. McCraken, Head
Randall Small, Associate Head
Nathan Sanders, Graduate Program Director

Admission
Applications are accepted once a year. The deadline for receipt of all application materials is December 15 for those applicants wishing to enroll in the following fall or spring semesters. Applications incomplete as of that date, or received after that date will not be considered. Applicants are expected to have an academic background consistent with a bachelor’s degree in one of the life sciences. They are expected to have completed a minimum of one year of general biology, two years of chemistry including one year of general chemistry, one year of physics, and one year of college-level calculus. Occasionally, applicants who are highly qualified otherwise but lack one of these courses or course sequences will be admitted with the expectation that the deficiency will be made up within the first year of graduate study. Applicants are required to submit scores from the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and successful applicants will usually have a composite score on the verbal, mathematical and analytical sections of the GRE of at least 1850. Submission of scores on appropriate (e.g., biology, mathematics) advanced GRE examinations is recommended but not required. Applicants are also expected to have an overall grade point average of at least 3.0 and 3.0 or above for all science and mathematics courses on a 4.0 scale (successful applicants will usually have gradepoint averages well above these minima).

Application must be made to both the Office of Graduate and International Admissions and the department. The departmental application requires three letters of reference from persons capable of assessing the applicant’s suitability for graduate work in biology and a statement of professional goals and reasons for applying to this program. Applicants for the doctoral degree are expected to have made prior contact with potential research advisors in the department’s graduate program and this approach is recommended for applicants for the master’s degree program as well. Inquiries should be directed to the Chair, Graduate Committee, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1610.

Environmental Policy Minor
The department participates in a program designed to give graduate students an opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary specialization in environmental policy. See Department of Political Science  for program description.

Intercollegiate/Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science
The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology participates in the intercollegiate/interdisciplinary graduate minor in computational science (IGMCS) program. Any student pursuing a master’s or PhD with a major in ecology and evolutionary biology can receive a minor in computational science by completing the appropriate IGMCS requirements. For additional information, see the description of the IGMCS listed under Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science or visit the IGMCS website at http://igmcs.utk.edu/. The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology also contributes courses to the IGMCS program curriculum.

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