Students in the Environment and Resources Program (at both the master's and doctoral levels) must complete both courses and a thesis or dissertation. Students must also meet the satisfactory progress requirement.
Students must complete at least 30 credits for a master's degree and approximately 37 credits for a doctorate. Courses are drawn from the following four categories to provide both depth and breadth in knowledge related to environment and resources problems:
| Master's Degree | Doctorate | |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Science | 6 credits (minimum) | 9 credits (minimum) |
| Social Science and/or Humanities | 6 credits (minimum) | 9 credits (minimum) |
| Measurement and Analysis | 6 credits (minimum) | 9 credits (minimum) |
| Individual Program Focus | 12 credits (minimum), Up to 6 credits of thesis research may be counted | 15 course credits (minimum) (9 of the 15 credits can be shared from one breadth category) plus two research seminars and a variable number of research credits |
Doctoral students must complete at least one course in each breadth category at UW-Madison.
Every master's and doctoral student must complete at least one environment and resources seminar. This requirement can be satisfied by completing Envr St 992 Special Topics in Land Resources, or Envr St 993 Seminar: Research Methods in Land Resources, or a suitable substitute.
Courses may be selected from many UW-Madison departments to satisfy the curriculum requirements of the Environment and Resources Program. The following lists demonstrate the wide array of subjects from which courses can be taken:
Natural Science
|
Humanities/Social Science
|
Measurement and Analysis
Individual Program Focussince courses used in this category are completely dependent upon the focus of the individual program, specific suggestions are not included here. |
Students should not assume that all courses listed under a specific heading will be universally accepted. Each program should be individually tailored to achieve student and program objectives. Courses should be selected in consultation with each student's faculty committee.
A list of courses previously approved for credit in the Environment and Resources Program is available from the Nelson Institute Academic Programs Office in 70 Science Hall or in pdf form on the web. Course offerings continually change. (Free download of Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
Every master's student must complete a thesis, and every doctoral student, a dissertation, based on original research. Thesis and disseration topics vary greatly among environment and resources students. Click on the links below to see a sampaling of thesis and dissertation titles. Copies of actual theses and dissertations that have been submitted to the Nelson Institute can be viewed in the Nelson Institute Library. A summary collection of thesis and dissertation abstracts is also available.
PDF of selected theses and dissertationsStudents must maintain at least a B (3.0 grade-point) average and meet the Graduate School's minimum credit requirement. A student who falls below a 3.0 grade-point average is placed on probation and must achieve a cumulative average of at least 3.0 in the subsequent semester.