The Ph.D. program in the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics consists of 72 credits, including core courses in economic theory, with an emphasis on aspects pertinent to natural resource use. REN 501, 502, 527, 528, 534, 535, 576, 602, 624, 628, 630, 634, and 676 are required courses. You can visit the Courses link on the left side of the page to see a list of the courses offered. Additional courses may be elected from appropriate offerings in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Engineering, Geography, Natural Resource Science, Oceanography, Mathematics, Political Science, Statistics, Computer Science, and Management Science. A dissertation is written on a problem involving environmental and natural resources or in an associated industry. A dissertation defense is required. A Ph.D. qualifying examination is required of students admitted without the M.S. degree in a related field.

The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 72 credits. Ph.D. students with a M.S. degree in a closely related field can transfer 30 credits toward their Ph.D. However, these students are not allowed to take courses at the 400 level for program credit. Ph.D. students who do not transfer M.S. credits are allowed to include a maximum 15 credits of courses at the 400 level and are allowed to transfer a maximum of 20% of their credits from another institution, which must be approved by the Graduate School.

Full-time students not on an assistantship are required to carry a course load of 9 - 15 credits. The usual semester course load for students not on an assistantship is 12 credits. A normal load is 9 credits for a student on an assistantship; 6 credits is the minimum for full-time students on assistantships.

Students are required to take Written Comprehensive Examinations at the end of their first academic year in the program, other than in cases of exceptional circumstances and with advanced permission from the Director of Graduate Studies. The exam is composed of three parts: microeconomic theory, environmental and natural resource economics theory, and quantitative methods (econometrics and dynamic optimization). The exam is offered in May.

The oral comprehensive exam is given after successful completion of the written comprehensive exam, normally within four weeks after the written exam. The exam committee is made up of the student's dissertation committee and two additional members, one within the department and one outside the department.

The Ph.D. dissertation is a major piece of independent research. The research is guided principally by the student and the major professor, with input from the remaining members of the dissertation committee. As soon as possible after the written comprehensive exam, students should complete a thesis proposal. The proposal outlines the problem to be addressed and methods to be used in the thesis.

For a list of recent dissertations completed, please visit the link below:

• Ph.D. Dissertations Titles and Authors

Our experience is that there is a strong demand for our Ph.D. graduates both in the private and public sector. These jobs range from positions in academia, in government agencies concerned with resource management, in some of the nation's best private consulting firms concerned with environmental issues, in industries harvesting our natural resource stocks, and in non-governmental organizations.