The remaining courses selected with approval of the student’s thesis committee taken at the 5000 level or above; all but  EEES 6930 must be taken for a letter grade (A–F). Additional credit hours will include  EEES 6960 Thesis Research and/or  EEES 6990 Independent Study, a maximum of 6 hours of which may be taken for a letter grade, and may also include other DES  or non-DES courses that need not be taken for a letter grade. The student must also prepare a thesis consisting of a written report on original independent research conducted by the student under the supervision of their thesis advisor (or co-advisors) and defend this thesis before their advisory committee.  

Option B (Non-thesis): The non-thesis option for a master’s degree in environmental science differs from the thesis option (above) by requiring 27 hours of formal courses and a maximum of 3 hours of EEES 6960 or EEES 6990; all but EEES 6930 (seminars) must be taken for a letter grade (A–F). The student also must write an original report based on literature research and defend this report before their advisory committee. 

Combined bachelor's to master's-Environmental Sciences Pipeline Program

Undergraduate students accepted to the Environmental Sciences Pipeline Program will be admitted to the MS Environmental Sciences Non-thesis program and allowed to complete up to nine credits of graduate level classes during their final academic year of undergraduate studies. Students admitted into the pipeline program must apply for admission to the College of Graduate Studies for the semester that they intend to matriculate. They will then continue in to the graduate program upon completion of the undergraduate degree requirements. The graduate coursework (up to nine hours) may be applied to completion of both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements. It will be the joint responsibility of the faculty and administrators in the undergraduate and graduate programs to supervise students admitted to the combined program option, to ensure that the limit of nine hours taken as an undergraduate is strictly enforced, and to request that the College of Graduate Studies change their matriculation from Undergraduate to Graduate when they meet all undergraduate degree requirements.  

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

UT undergraduate students must 1) be majoring in either Biology with a Concentration in Ecology and Organismal Biology or Environmental Sciences, 2) have a minimum of 3.2 cumulative undergraduate grade point average that will include undergraduate credits earned at other institutions and transferred to UT, and 3) have approval of their advisor and department chair.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Students holding a junior standing should apply by March 31 of that year.  Application to this early pipeline program must contain 1) a letter of interest, 2) a completed graduate admission application, and 3) at least 3 letter(s) of recommendation from faculty members.

Pipeline B.S. to M.S. COURSES

The following provisions apply for classes taken for graduate credit: 1) graduate classes taken at The University of Toledo only after the student is accepted in the program, 2) EEES 6250 Graduate Launch and EEES 6300 Integrated Environmental & Earth Systems must be taken in the last two semesters of their undergraduate program, 3) Any other EEES course at the 5000 or 6000 level may be included in the approved nine semester hours of graduate credit taken as an undergraduate.