Doctorate in Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences
About the Doctorate
The PhD degree in fisheries and wildlife is designed to prepare students for careers in research and teaching or other advanced scientific, academic or professional careers.
Degree Requirements
The doctor of philosophy degree is conferred only upon those students who, after extensive study, have demonstrated a high level of achievement in their particular specialization in fisheries and wildlife and have completed independent research contributing to knowledge in the field.
Doctoral Committee
The student pursuing the doctoral program is expected to pass qualifying, comprehensive and final examinations administered by the student’s doctoral committee. The committee shall be composed of a minimum of 4 members of the MU graduate faculty and will include at least 3 members from the student’s doctoral degree program and 1 outside member from a different MU program. At least 2 of the committee members must be MU doctoral faculty.
Qualifying Examination
The qualifying examination includes a general knowledge examination and is designed to evaluate the student’s background and determine areas of weakness.
Plan of Study
The doctoral plan of study requires a minimum of 72 hours of graduate credit from courses taken at MU, transfer credit and research hours. This program must include at least 15 hours of 8000- and 9000-level course work exclusive of problems, readings and research.
Residency Requirement
Students enrolled in the PhD program must also satisfy a residency requirement of at least 3 consecutive semesters in which the student is in residence on the MU campus and enrolled for 6 or more credit hours, unless a prior exception is approved by the director of graduate studies.
Foreign Language
Requirements for foreign language and a collateral field, if any, are determined by the student’s doctoral program committee. The doctoral committee is expected to make an assessment of the student’s needs as they relate to the student’s background and educational objectives.
Comprehensive Exam
A comprehensive exam is administered at least 1 semester before defense of the dissertation. The objectives of the comprehensive examination are twofold:
- to determine if a student has acquired sufficient depth and breadth of knowledge in selected areas of concentration
- to evaluate the candidate’s capacity to apply that knowledge in solving applied or theoretical problems
Dissertation and Defense
Following successful completion of the comprehensive exam, doctoral candidates will defend an independent scholarly dissertation in the presence of their examining committee and other invited guests. The final document must be completed in a form acceptable to the student’s adviser, committee, and the Graduate School.
Minor in College Teaching
A college teaching minor may be earned by PhD candidates through additional course work.