Graduate Interdisciplinary Specializations

These graduate specializations offer graduate students the opportunity to complete a course of study utilizing courses and faculty from several different fields. Participants must apply for admission and must also be admitted to a 'regular' graduate program.

Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology

Snyder 407
2538 McCarthy Mall
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel (808) 956-4602
Fax: (808) 956-4707
Web: www.hawaii.edu/eecb

Graduate Faculty

S. Conant, PhD (Chair)--conservation biology, life history and ecology of Hawaiian birds
S. K. Atkinson, PhD--reproductive biology of marine animals
W. W. Au, PhD--sensory biology of cetaceans
R. L. Cann, PhD--conservation genetics and molecular evolution
G. D. Carr, PhD--plant biosystemics, cytogenetics, hybridization and speciation
C. C. Daehler, PhD--invasive plants, plant-insect interactions
H. G. de Couet , PhD--developmental and molecular evolution
D. C. Duffy, PhD--conservation biology (basic and applied)
L. A. Freed, PhD--evolutionary ecology, behavioral ecology and conservation biology
G. H. Goldstein, PhD--physiological plant ecology and terrestrial ecology
D. W. Greenfield, PhD--ichthyology, marine biology, biosystematics, zoogeography, community ecology
M. G. Hadfield, PhD--larval biology of marine invertebrates, conservation and demography of Hawaiian tree snails
D. Haymer, PhD--molecular evolution
J. A. Hunt, PhD--molecular evolution
K. Y. Kaneshiro, PhD--sexual selection and biology of small populations
S. C. Keeley, PhD--plant molecular systematics and evolution
R. A. Kinzie, PhD--aquatic ecology, coral reefs and tropical streams
T. W. Lyttle, PhD--population genetics and chromosome evolution
M. Q. Martindale, PhD--evolution of development of metazoan animals
W. McClatchey, PhD--ethnopharmacology, evolution of species and civilizations, systematic botany
M. D. Merlin, PhD--biogeography, ethnobotany, Pacific natural history
R. H. Messing, PhD--behavioral ecology of insect parasitoids and biological control
C. W. Morden, PhD--molecular systematics and evolution of plants and algae
D. Mueller-Dombois, PhD--vegetation ecology
J. D. Parrish, PhD--ecology of aquatic (marine) communities, fishery biology
D. K. Price, PhD--evolutionary genetics of behaviors
M.A. Ridgley, PhD--human-environment systems analysis: modelling and evaluation of society-environment interactions
E. G. Ruby, PhD--mechanisms underlying symbiotic bacterial colonization of animal tissues
C. M. Smith, PhD--physiological ecology of marine macrophytes, marine ecology
L. E. Sponsel, PhD--human ecology in tropical forests and deforestation
J. S. Stimson, PhD--population ecology
A. D. Taylor, PhD--population ecology
A. Teramura, PhD--environmental stress physiology, global climate change, ecosystem analysis and biodiversity
L. Wester, PhD--plant geography, biogeography of islands, human-plant relationships
C. Womersley, PhD--environmental physiology, biochemical adaptation, parasitology
D. Woodcock, PhD--vegetation and climate

Affiliate Graduate Faculty

A. Allison, PhD--systematics and population biology
A. Asquith, PhD--insect systematics and conservation
R. J. Cabin, PhD--experimental investigations of the ecological dynamics of alien plant species invasions and native plant restoration efforts within the Hawaiian Islands.
E. W. Campbell III, PhD--applied and basic herpetology, invasive species management, conservation biology, predator ecology.
J. Canfield, PhD--conservation biology of silverswords and vegetation restoration
R. H. Cowie, PhD--evolutionary biology and conservation of land and freshwater snails
P. Cox, PhD--ethnobotany, plant evolutionary ecology
N. L. Evenhuis, PhD--systematics and evolution of Diptera
J. Ewel, PhD--ecosystem processes in terrestrial communities
K. Ewel, PhD--wetland ecology and systems ecology
D. Foote, PhD--ecology and conservation of native Hawaiian insects
F. G. Howarth, PhD--evolutionary biology of cave ecosystems and insect conservation
L. L. Loope, PhD--conservation biology, plant ecology
J. E. Maragos, PhD--human impact on marine ecosystems and coral reefs
S. E. Miller, PhD--systematics and biogeography, especially of Lepidoptera
D. Ragone, PhD--Pacific Island ethnobotany, especially conservation and use of traditional crops, focusing on breadfruit.
B. A. Wilcox, PhD--ecosystem conservation biology

The Academic Program

The objectives of the interdisciplinary graduate specialization in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology (EECB) are to do the following:

Exploit Hawai'i's unique opportunities to integrate tropical population biology and natural history studies with modern laboratory techniques;
Provide the interdisciplinary, conceptual, and technical training to participate in academic and research programs in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology; and
Foster scholarly training in research programs involving expertise in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology.

Modern theories of ecology, evolution, and conservation biology share a core of concepts and techniques that span classical academic disciplines. This common core, coupled with the emergence of powerful new technologies, invites cross-disciplinary approaches, which generate many of today's most exciting scientific knowledge.

The EECB program provides opportunities for students in many traditional subdisciplines represented at Manoa. This intercollegiate, interdisciplinary graduate program brings together faculty members from agronomy and soil science, anthropology, biomedical sciences (genetics and molecular biology), botanical sciences, entomology, geography, horticulture, microbiology, oceanography, and zoology, with all their skills and technologies, to provide the training students need to contribute effectively to this research area.

EECB is implemented as a "specialization" within existing graduate programs of the departments whose faculty participate in this program. While the EECB program is designed primarily for a doctor of philosophy degree, it also includes a master of science degree for students who wish to pursue positions such as might be available in state and federal forestry and wildlife conservation programs or in biological resource management positions with private organizations such as The Nature Conservancy. Students accepted to the EECB graduate specialization have already been accepted into a graduate program of one of the various departments participating in the EECB program. Course work in statistics, organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, evolution, and ecology are considered important for admission into the EECB program.

Request complete details on the EECB program from the chair of the program at the previously listed address.

Admission Requirements
All applicants will be required to submit undergraduate transcripts, statements of career goals, three letters of recommendation, and results of the Graduate Record Examination. Although a GRE advanced test score is not required for admission, applicants are advised to submit the results of an appropriate advanced test. Before s/he can be admitted, an applicant must have a faculty sponsor who is also a member of the EECB graduate faculty. Ordinarily, though not necessarily, the sponsor would become the student's graduate adviser/committee chair.

Requirements for the Graduate Specialization in EECB

All students in the program are required to attend the weekly "evoluncheon" seminar series where students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty and visiting scientists give presentations.

Course requirements for all EECB graduate students:

one course in ecology at the 600 or 700 level (at least 2 credits)
one course in evolution at the 600 or 700 level (at least 2 credits)
one course in conservation biology at the 600 or 700 level (at least 2 credits)

For one subject area, students may petition the EECB Graduate Education Committee to have a 400-level course (at least 3 credits) substitute for a course requirement. While we do not recommend this option for most students, relevant course offerings in each area may sometimes not be available at the 600 level.

Master's Degree with Specialization in EECB (Plan A)

30 credits total 18 credits at the 400-700 level (excluding 699 and 700)
*At least 12 of these 18 credits must be at the 600 or 700 level
8 credits of 699 and/or 700
At least one graduate seminar

Master's Degree with Specialization in EECB (Plan B)
Same course requirements as plan A except that:

no more than 9 credits of 699 can be applied toward the degree
a minimum of 18 credits must be in courses numbered 600-798

Doctoral Degree with Specialization in EECB

at least 10 credits from among the courses listed below
additional course work may be required by the Graduate Education Committee, depending on background and experience prior to entering the program.
at least one graduate seminar

In addition to course requirements for the specialization in EECB, each department (e.g. botany, genetics, geography, zoology) has its own, separate course requirements. In some cases, courses taken to fulfill EECB requirements will also count towards department requirements. Please consult with your department's graduate chair to determine which courses can count towards departmental requirements.

Course Offerings
New courses or one-time offerings not listed here may also count towards the EECB requirement. Please consult with the graduate faculty chair or graduate education committee.

Note: The 400-level courses are listed below primarily to show the diversity of relevant offerings available. Six credits of 400-level courses can count toward the Master's specialization (see MS requirements above), but 400-level courses normally do not count towards the EECB area requirements that must be fulfilled by all students.

Ecology

BOT 450 Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands (3)
BOT 453 Plant Ecology and Environmental Measurements (4)
BOT 454 Vegetation Ecology (4)
BOT 456 Plant-Animal Interactions (3)
BOT 482 Adaptations of Plants to Marine Environmental (3)
BOT 482L Adaptations of Plants to Marine Environmental (1)
BOT 650 Ecology Seminar (2)
BOT 651 Invasion Biology (3)
ENTO 671 Insect Ecology (3)
GEOG 402 Agricultural Climatology(3)
MICR 485 Microbial Ecology (3)
MICR 485L Microbial Ecology Lab (2)
MICR 680 Advanced in Microbial Ecology (3)
OCN 626 Marine Microplankton Ecology
OCN 627 Ecology of Pelagic Marine Animals (3)
OCN 628 Benthic Ecology
ZOOL 439 Animal Ecology (3)
ZOOL 439L Laboratory in Animal Ecology (2)
ZOOL 450 Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands (3)
ZOOL 460 Avian Biology (3)
ZOOL 606 Principles of Animal Behavior (2)
ZOOL 606L Principles of Animal Behavior Lab (1)
ZOOL 620 Marine Ecology (3) ZOOL 621 Evolutionary Ecology (4)
ZOOL 623 Quantitative Field Ecology (3)

Evolution

BOT 411 Morphology and Evolution of Land Plants (4)
BOT 450 Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands (3)
BOT 461 Principles of Plant Systematics(4)
BOT 462 Plant Evolution (3)
BOT 480 Algal Diversity and Evolution (4)
BOT 661 Hawaiian Vascular Plants (3)
BOT 662 Advanced Systematics (4)
BOT 675 Molecular Systematics and Evolution (3)
ENTO 462 Systematic Entomology (3)
ENTO 633 Insect Genetics (3)
CMB 604 Evolutionary Genetics (2)
CMB 625 Advanced Topics in Genetics (2)
CMB 650 Population Genetics (3)
CMB 680 Molecular Genetics (3)
HORT 615 Quantitative Genetics (3)
MICR 671 Advanced Microbial Genetics (3)
ZOOL 450 Natural History of the Hawaiian Islands (3)
ZOOL 480 Animal Evolution (3)
ZOOL 606Principles of Animal Behavior (2)
ZOOL 606L Principles of Animal Behavior Lab (1)
ZOOL 621 Evolutionary Ecology (4)
ZOOL 719 Topics in Systematics and Evolution (V)

Conservation Biology

ANTH 415 Ecological Anthropology (3)
ANTH 435 Human Adaptation to Forests (3)
ANTH 620H Human Ecology (3)
BOT 651 Invasion Biology (3)
BOT/ZOOL 690 Conservation Biology (3)
BIOL 490 Wildlife and Plant Conservation (3)
ENTO 675/675L Biological Control
GEOG 411 Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (3)
GEOG 412 Environmental Impact Assessment (3)
GEOG 455 Resource Management (3)
GEOG 752 Research Seminar: Resource Management (3)
GEOG 758 Research Seminar: Conservation (3)
BIOL/GEOG 410 Human Role in Environmental

Change (3)

OCN 621 Biological Oceanography (3) (content varies, but may be counted towards a specific area, depending on the topic)
GEOG 750 Research Seminar: Biogeography
ZOOL 714 Topics in Animal Behavior

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Please note: This Catalog was prepared to provide information and does not constitute a contract. The University reserves the right to change or delete, supplement, or otherwise amend at any time and without prior notice the information, requirements, and policies contained in this Catalog.