The Graduate Field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell

THE GRADUATE FIELD OF
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Graduate education at Cornell represents an unusual blend of intercollege interdepartmental activity. Graduate curricula and other requirements at Cornell are the responsibility of Graduate Fields, which often cut across departmental lines. Most faculty with ecological or evolutionary interests, regardless of their departmental affiliation, are members of the Field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (E&EB). Thus, faculty members in the Field of E&EB are drawn from the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Neurobiology and Behavior, Entomology, Natural Resources, Plant Biology, and other departments. Several of our faculty also belong to other graduate fields, including Entomology, Zoology, Plant Biology, Genetics and Development , Science and Technology Studies, and Applied Mathematics.

Most requirements for the Ph.D. degree will be determined by the Special Committee rather than by departmental rules and regulations. Once at Cornell, students can easily change major and minor members of their Special Committee if their interests develop in new directions. The strength of this system lies in the ability of each student to create a training program suited to individual interests.

PROGRAM ORIENTATION

The Field attempts to provide comprehensive training in ecology and evolutionary biology primarily leading to a Ph.D. degree. Specific subject areas and concentrations include: Ecology (animal ecology, applied ecology, biogeochemistry, community and ecosystem ecology, limnology, oceanography, physiological ecology, plant ecology, population ecology, theoretical ecology, vertebrate zoology) and Evolutionary Biology (ecological genetics, paleobiology, population biology, systematics). The collective specializations of the faculty present a student with a considerable depth of experience in most areas of ecology and evolutionary biology. Beyond this, Cornell's Biological Sciences is one of the leading groups of its kind in the United States.

FACILITIES

Research facilities at Cornell are extensive and varied. Growth chambers, greenhouses, aviaries, aquarium rooms, animal rooms, and experimental ponds are available for maintaining organisms or for experimental purposes. Laboratories house equipment and instrumentation for molecular, biogeochemical, physiological, behavioral, and environmental studies.

Cornell owns approximately 10,000 acres of farms, pastures, woodlands, and natural areas within Tompkins County and thousands of acres of New York State lands are also nearby. Laboratories on quite different types of lakes are maintained by the University at Cayuga Lake, Oneida Lake and in the Adirondack Mountains. Cornell has formal and informal ties with a number of laboratories such as the Shoals Marine Laboratory, the Organization for Tropical Studies (Costa Rica), and the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest.

The Cornell library system has extensive holdings in the biological and agricultural sciences. Students also have access to a number of noteworthy collections. Plant specimens are available in the Bailey Hortorium (both cultivated and native plants). The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has one of the largest collections of freshwater and shore fishes of the eastern United States, as well as excellent mammal, bird, and herpetological collections. The Department of Entomology houses the largest university insect collection in the United States.

FINANCIAL AID

All students admitted to the PhD program in the Field of E&EB are guaranteed five years of academic-year support (some of which may come from fellowships that the student receives separately) and four summers of stipend support.

Teaching Assistantships provide a stipend and tuition fellowship. International students usually qualify for this form of support only if they have an excellent command of spoken English.

Graduate Research Assistantships are normally awarded to students already in residence at Cornell. They are available through individual major professors.

Training Grants. There is usually a suite of 3 or 4 training grants for which students in the Field are eligible. These awards are often decided upon about the time that the admission offer is made.

APPLYING

The Graduate School's on-line application is available at

http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/admissions/admissions.html

Additional Field Application: The Field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology requires an additional Field application. Download a pdf file of the Field application by clicking here. These questions may be appended to the Grad School's application. You do not have to submit a separate Field application if that is the case. All application materials are due December 1.

The Field holds a prospective graduate student weekend in mid-February. Decisions on offers of admissions are made by mid-March.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact the Field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology by e-mail (eeb_grad_req@cornell.edu) or by phone (607-254-4230).

September 7, 2007

http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/field/mainEEB.html