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Human Ecology Environmental Science Ph.D.
Doctoral Degree
Program type:
Major
Format:
On Campus
Est. time to complete:
4-5 years
Credit Hours:
72 (with Bachelor's) or 42 (with Master's)
Discover how humans and the ecosystems they live in interact and find new ways for
us to coexist with life on earth in this interdisciplinary program from UNT.
Human ecology is the interdisciplinary study of human-environment interactions. Students
will combine perspectives from anthropology, geography, and biology to understand
how place and culture define a population's relationship with nature. The Human Ecology
concentration helps Ph.D. candidates explore the relationships between humans and
the different environments they inhabit, including natural and human-created environments.
Students will create research to uncover solutions to the environmental impacts of
humans and how to build better relationships with the natural world.
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Request More InfoWhy Earn a Human Ecology Environmental Science Ph.D.?
The environmental science program is an interdisciplinary collaboration among the Department of Biological Sciences, the Department of Geography, the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies and other departments at UNT to examine major environmental issues through an interdisciplinary perspective.
The program offers graduate studies in environmental science that lead to the PhD, granted through the Department of Biological Sciences. The course of study, involving both core and elective courses, is designed for those students who desire an interdisciplinary perspective concerning human-environmental interactions.
Marketable Skills
- Communication to professional/lay audiences
- Design field-based research protocols
- Proficiency in environmental ethics
- Recognition of national/international issues
- Lead/direct research programs/projects
Human Ecology Environmental Science Ph.D. Highlights
The rigorous curriculum has helped students receive prestigious appointments and awards
from organizations including the Entomological Society of America.
The department’s facilities for research and graduate training occur in the Life Sciences
Complex; Science Research Building; and the Environmental Education, Science and Technology
Building.
The Life Sciences Complex, which has Gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design certification for sustainability, includes an aquatics laboratory and four
climate-controlled rooftop research greenhouses.
Qualified students are supported through competitive teaching assistantships or research
assistantships funded by research grants to faculty members. Nine-month stipends and
tuition scholarships are available for entering master’s and doctoral students.
Our faculty members include internationally renowned researchers who have earned recognition
from the National Science Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement
of Science and the American Society for Microbiology, among others.
Human Ecology Environmental Science Ph.D. Courses You Could Take
Environmental Anthropology (3 hrs)
Emphasis on theory, major environmental questions, problems, issues, and possible
solutions illustrated by case studies from different parts of the world. Examination
of environmental issues pertaining to land/sea and natural resources, food production
systems, deforestation, population problems, poverty and environmental justice, natural
hazards and risks, resource conflicts and warfare, over-fishing, economic development,
globalization and transnationalism, mineral and oil extraction, landscapes, biodiversity
conservation, the commons, ecofeminism, and valuation of nature.
Environmental Impact Assessment (3 hrs)
Principles and practices of preparing environmental impact assessments and statements.
Addresses how to understand the effects that projects, plans and policies have on
the environment and the impact those effects have on specific resources, ecosystems
and human communities.
Foundations of Geographic Thought (3 hrs)
Explores epistemological developments in the discipline of geography, including the
origins, development and diffusion of predominant ideas that form the foundation of
geography.
Environmental Ethics (3 hrs)
Examines the philosophical origins of environmental philosophy and the basic positions
in the field of environmental ethics. Key authors in environmental philosophy are
surveyed, as well as topical considerations with an emphasis on theories of environmental
value, legal and moral rights for nature, animal liberation, and Western philosophical
and religious traditions.
Seminar in the Philosophy of Ecology (3 hrs)
Traces the evolution of ecology from its roots in 19th-century natural history to
the present with an emphasis on the prominent paradigms and conceptual trends, such
as organicism, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, disturbance and flux.
Ethnographic and Qualitative Methods (3 hrs)
Focuses on ethnographic and qualitative methods and the development of the skills
necessary for the practice of anthropology. Special emphasis is given to qualitative
techniques of data collection and analysis, grant writing, the use of computers to
analyze qualitative data and ethical problems in conducting qualitative research.
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