Entolomology Graduate Degree Program

MAIN AREAS OF RESEARCH

Research in the department is as diverse as the faculty and students. Areas in which we are engaged cut across suborganismal, organismal, and applied entomology. Many faculty have research programs that are broadly interdisciplinary and span two or more of these areas. Our research aims to understand the basic biology of how insects perceive and adapt to the environment and how and why their populations grow. We examine how they affect crops and forests, influence ecosystem processes such as nutrient and carbon cycling and the “services” they provide in natural and managed ecosystems such as pollination and pest suppression. We study their diversity and conservation and how we as humans are affected by them.  We invite you to visit individual faculty research pages to get more in-depth descriptions of the diversity of research in Entomology.

PROGRAM FUNDING

Applications to graduate studies act as the application for financial support. Offers of financial support accompany most offers of admission for students admitted to Entomology. Most students hold research assistantships (RA’s). The availability of RA’s is limited. They carry a stipend, which is updated annually, a remission of tuition, and the option to participate in a health-care plan comparable to that available to faculty. Current stipend information and program rates are published on this page of the Graduate School’s website.  A posting of open assistantship positions within the department may also be located on the department’s Graduate Training Opportunities webpage.

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

All Entomology applicants (M.S. and Ph.D.) must contact faculty members in the department before and during the admissions process. All students are admitted directly into a faculty member’s lab. Additionally, we do not accept new graduate students into the program unless financial support for the student is currently in the hands of a faculty member, or is assured by the time a student begins, or a student brings independent funding and has contacted a faculty member who agrees to advise. Please see the department website for a full explanation of the requirements.