Ecology - Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Main Campus

Ecology from Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Main Campus is a Campus Master Ecology degree that prepares you for a Science career. This intercollege program emphasizes the properties of ecosystems by focusing attention on interactions of single organisms, populations, and communities with their environment. It is designed to give students a basic understanding of ecological theory and hypothesis testing and is complementary to other environmental programs that emphasize the human role in ecosystems. The program is administered by a committee drawn from faculty members in several departments and colleges of the University. This committee and its chair are appointed by the dean of the Graduate School. The instructional staff is composed of participating faculty in those departments offering graduate courses in fields closely allied to ecology . The advisory committee is selected by the candidate and his/her adviser and approved by the Graduate School. The committee has the responsibility for determining the course program and research acceptable in satisfying degree requirements. Four options for specialization are offered: Quantitative Ecology, Microbial Ecology , Conservation Biology and Physiological Ecology. Students are not required to select an option. The quantitative ecology option includes mathematical and statistical modeling and applications of statistics to experimental design and data analysis. The microbial ecology option includes basic aquatic and soil microbial ecology and applications to recycling of materials and release of genetically engineered organisms. The conservation biology option is concerned with problems of maintaining the rapidly disappearing diversity of organisms and their habitats, and the global reservoir of genetic diversity that these organisms represent. The physiological ecology option is concerned primarily with the function and performance of organisms in their environment. Each option entails extra course requirements plus a thesis directed by an ecology faculty member in the option. Additional information can be obtained from the option coordinators. View more details on Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Ecology courses.