Forestry & Environmental Studies

205 Prospect, 432.5100
M.S., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Dean
James Gustave Speth

Directors of Doctoral Studies
Oswald Schmitz (370 Prospect, 432.5110, oswald.schmitz@yale.edu)

Professors
Mark Ashton, Gaboury Benoit, Graeme Berlyn, Gerry Brewer, William Burch, Michael Dove, Daniel Esty, Thomas Graedel, Timothy Gregoire, Stephen Kellert, Xuhui Lee, Robert Mendelsohn, Chadwick Oliver, Oswald Schmitz, David Skelly, John Wargo

Associate Professors
Lisa Curran, James Saiers

Assistant Professors
Benjamin Cashore, Marian Chertow, Erin Mansur, Kathleen McAfee, Sheila
Olmstead, Peter Raymond

Non-Ladder Faculty
Ann Camp, Carol Carpenter, Timothy Clark, Florencia Montagnini

Joint Appointments
James Axley, Adalgisa Caccone, Michael Donoghue, Menachem Elimelech, Roger Ely, Robert Evenson, Jonathan Feinstein, Mary Helen Goldsmith, Brian Leaderer, William Nordhaus, Jeffrey Powell, Alison Richard, James Scott, Stephen Stearns, Christopher Timmins, Karl Turekian, Robin Winks

Fields of Study
Fields include agroforestry; biodiversity conservation; biostatistics and biometry; community ecology; ecosystems ecology; ecosystems management; environmental biophysics and meteorology; environmental chemistry; environmental ethics; environmental governance; environmental health risk assessment; environmental history; environmental law and politics; environmental and resource policy; forest ecology; hydrology; industrial ecology; industrial environmental management; plant physiology and anatomy; pollution management; population ecology; resource economics; energy and the environment, silviculture, social ecology; stand development, tropical ecology and conservation; urban planning; water resource management; environmental management and social ecology in developing countries.

Special Admissions Requirements
Applicants should hold a bachelor's or master's degree in a field related to natural resources like forestry, or in a relevant discipline of the natural or social sciences like biology, chemistry, economics, or mathematics. The GRE General Test is required but Subject Tests are optional.

Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
Students are required to take the Doctoral Student Seminar, 824a/b, before the second term of their program. Aside from this requirement, there is no required curriculum of credit courses and no formal language requirement. Courses of study are individually designated through consultation between degree candidates and their advisers and dissertation committees. The amount of course work required will depend on the previous training of the student but the normal requirement for a student with no previous graduate training is three or four courses per term for four terms. The program of each student will be evaluated at the end of the first year of residence. At least two term grades of Honors are required in the first two years of study; however, it is anticipated that grades of Honors or High Pass will be achieved in two-thirds of all courses taken. A written and oral qualifying examination is required upon completion of the course requirements. Students are expected to take the examination by the end of their second or third term. All students must complete the examination at the end of their fourth term of study. At the time of the qualifying examination, the student must present a prospectus of the research work proposed for the dissertation. Successful completion of the qualifying examination and submission of the prospectus will result in admission to candidacy. Upon completion of the dissertation, the candidate must make unbound copies of the dissertation available to the faculty and appear for an oral examination at a time and place designated by the director of graduate studies. Copies of the approved dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School, and one copy to the library of the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Depending upon the nature of the dissertation topic, completion of the Ph.D. degree normally requires four years. Teaching and research experiences are regarded as integral parts of the graduate training program in Forestry & Environmental Studies. All students are required to serve as teaching fellows (10 hours per week) for two terms prior to the end of their fourth year of study. In addition, before the end of their fourth year of study, all doctoral students must complete a two-term research project/assistantship with their major adviser (10 hours per week). The nature of teaching assignments and research duties is determined in cooperation with the student’s major adviser and the director of graduate studies.

Master's Degrees
M.Phil (en route to the Ph.D.) Students may petition for this degree after they have passed the qualifying exam and advanced to candidacy.

M.S. (en route to the Ph.D.) This degree is normally granted only to students who are withdrawing from the Ph.D. program. Applications for this master’s degree are not accepted. Requirements that must be met for award of the M.S. are (1) successful completion of two years of course work in residence with two grades of Honors; (2) a written prospectus; (3) fulfillment of one term of the teaching requirement.

For information on the terminal master’s degrees offered by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (the Master of Forestry, Master of Forest Science, Master of Environmental Management, and Master of Environmental Science degrees) visit the School’s Web site, www.yale.edu/environment, or contact Admissions Director, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, 205 Prospect Street, New Haven CT, 06511.

For courses, see the Bulletin of the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

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