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Detailed Information

Program of Study

The Department of Biological Sciences offers a program of study leading to the Ph.D. degree in ecology and evolution (EE). The organization of the program offers an interactive environment for training graduate students in EE. The dynamic group of faculty members has a wide range of interests within the field of ecology and evolution and provides students with many choices in the area in which to specialize.

During the first year, students explore the scientific opportunities available in the Department by attending seminars, including the Departmental retreat, and by pursuing research rotations in at least two, and up to three, different laboratories of faculty members in whom they have an interest. In the first two years, on alternate years, students also participate in intensive core courses in ecology and evolution. The core courses are team taught by EE faculty members. Once an area of specialization is chosen, by the end of April of the first year, the major effort is on the student’s dissertation research. In addition to research, after the core course, students also take seminar and advanced-topics courses and at least one graduate-level field course.

The student’s training is also fostered by attending a variety of formal and informal research meetings and seminars. In addition to the Departmental Seminar Series, opportunities for informal discussions and socialization between graduate students and faculty members abound at weekly meetings of discussion groups focused on specific research areas and the Ecology and Evolution Seminar. Each student also presents their own research to the Department once each year as part of a weekly seminar series.

By limiting the graduate program to a select group of students, the program offers a low graduate student-faculty ratio, which ensures students one-on-one interaction with all members of their dissertation committees, as well as with scientists in the ecology and evolution community at large. The student’s progress is followed by a faculty member thesis adviser and committee in annual committee meetings. Students must pass a comprehensive examination no later than the end of the third year. Students and faculty members interact with neighboring scientists at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh Genetics Institute, Graduate School of Public Health, Carnegie Mellon University, Carlow College, the National Aviary, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, thereby providing additional breadth to the program.

Training students as teachers as well as researchers is an integral part of the program. Students teach at least one semester as teaching assistants in an undergraduate course and have opportunities to teach on a more individual basis by supervising undergraduates on research projects. Those students with more interest in teaching can also participate in a unique Teaching Minor program hosted by the Department.

Research Facilities

Facilities useful for members of the ecology and evolution group include a modern greenhouse complex, growth chambers for conducting controlled environment experiments, molecular ecology laboratories, protein and DNA sequencing and rtPCR facilities, a microscopy and imaging facility, and an animal-care facility. In addition, the Department is a member of the Organization of Tropical Studies. Campus facilities are greatly enhanced by the laboratories, field sites, and research facilities at the Department’s field station, the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE). In the summer months, the vibrant community of ecologists and evolutionary biologists from the University is joined by faculty members and students from many other institutions. Scientists conducting research and/or teaching at PLE come from both regional and national universities and colleges. PLE’s Summer Seminar Series and summer courses attract high-caliber scientists and students from other institutions, providing a large network of intellectual resources for students.

Financial Aid

Stipends for 2009–10 are $24,600.

Cost of Study

Tuition is waived for admitted students.

Living and Housing Costs

Off-campus housing is available near the campus and in surrounding communities. Rents vary, depending on the type of accommodations selected. Housing is quite affordable, and some graduate students even purchase houses in pleasant residential neighborhoods. Many opportunities to share expenses are also available. Additional information may be obtained from the University Housing Office by calling 412-624-7116.

Student Group

Of the Department’s 62 graduate students, 16 are currently in the EE program. Equal numbers of men and women are recruited each year; their average age is 23. Most students have done undergraduate work in biology at an institution in the United States. A research and/or teaching career in industry, academic institutions, nonprofits, or civil service is the long-term goal of most students.

Location

Pittsburgh, with a population of 369,879, is part of a greater metropolitan area of 1.3 million people. The University occupies more than 120 acres of Oakland, the cultural hub of the city. Pittsburgh is of sufficient size to support a wide variety of cultural and athletics events, including performances of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the Pittsburgh Opera, the O’Reilly Theater, the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and the International Poetry Forum as well as home games of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins. The city also has an extensive system of large parks. Schenley Park, adjacent to the University and to Carnegie Mellon, is the site of the renowned Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and Highland Park contains the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. North of the downtown area are the Allegheny Observatory, the Carnegie Science Center, Andy Warhol Museum, and the National Aviary. Close to the campus are the Carnegie Museums of Natural History and Art and the Carnegie Library. Boating, camping, fishing, golf, hiking, ice-skating, and skiing are available in the area.

The University

The University of Pittsburgh, founded eleven years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is a nonsectarian, coeducational institution. As part of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, it receives financial support from the state. Currently, in research, the University of Pittsburgh ranks seventh among all U.S. universities in the number of competitive grants awarded to members of its faculty by the National Institutes of Health. The University has 17,208 undergraduate and 9,812 graduate students and 4,485 faculty members. The library system maintains excellent collections totaling more than 5.6 million volumes. Petersen Events Center, the University of Pittsburgh’s athletic facility, is the venue for basketball games and concerts; it also houses exercise facilities and an Olympic-size swimming pool, which are open to all students. Intercollegiate athletics events with nationally ranked teams are frequent, and student tickets are available to many of these events.

Applying

The size and interactive nature of the graduate program fosters close working relationships between students and their mentors; this interaction is best served when the students and their mentors begin their association before the student has been admitted to the program. This process ensures that the student has found the best possible mentor for his or her graduate career. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that they establish a dialogue with one or more potential graduate advisers in EE during the application process. Candidates should have an undergraduate or master’s degree in biology (other degrees such as chemistry, physics, or mathematics are also considered). Candidates must apply online and arrange for academic transcripts, at least three letters of recommendation, and GRE scores to be forwarded to the Department. Applications from students in the U.S. and Canada should be submitted by January 15 (December 15 for international applicants). During the application process, prospective students are encouraged to contact faculty members whose labs they may be interested in joining.

The Faculty and Their Research

• Tia-Lynn Ashman, Professor; Ph.D., California, Davis, 1991. Plant evolutionary ecology.
• Walter P. Carson, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Cornell, 1993. Plant community ecology; tropical and temperate forest ecology.
• William P. Coffman, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Pittsburgh, 1967. Ecology and systematics of lotic Chironomidae.
• Susan Kalisz, Professor; Ph.D., Chicago, 1985. Plant population genetics.
• Todd Katzner, Adjunct Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Arizona State, 2003. Demography and conservation ecology.
• Jeffrey G. Lawrence, Professor; Ph.D., Washington, 1991. Molecular evolution of bacterial genomes.
• Zhe-Xi Luo, Adjunct Associate Professor; Ph.D., Berkeley, 1989. Phylogeny and evolutionary morphology of mammals.
• Rick A. Relyea, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Michigan, 1998. Aquatic ecology, toxicology, evolution, and behavior.
• Stephen J. Tonsor, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Chicago, 1983. Plant evolutionary genetics.
• M. Brian Traw, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Cornell, 2001. Plant evolutionary ecology.
• Recent Representative Faculty Publications
• Majetic, C. J., R. A. Raguso, and T.-L. Ashman. Sources of floral scent variation: can environment define floral scent phenotype? Plant Signaling & Behavior 4(2):129–31, 2009.
• Long, Z. T., T. H. Pendergast IV and W. P. Carson. The impact of deer on relationships between tree growth and mortality in an old-growth beech-maple forest. Forest Ecol. Manag. 252(1–3):230–8, 2007.
• Coffman, W. P., and C. L. de la Rosa. Taxonomic composition and temporal organization of tropical and temperate species assemblages of lotic Chironomidae. J. Kans. Ent. Soc. 71(4):388–406, 1999.
• Knight, T. M., et al. (S. Kalisz). Deer facilitate invasive plant success in a Pennsylvania forest. Nat. Area. J. 29(2):110–6, 2009.
• Katzner, T., E. Bragin, and E. J. Milner-Gulland. Modeling populations of long-lived birds of prey for conservation: a study of imperial eagles (Aquila heliaca) in Kazakhstan. Biol. Conservat. 132(3):322–35, 2006.
• Lawrence, J. G., and A. C. Retchless. The interplay of homologous recombination and horizontal gene transfer in bacterial speciation. Meth. Mol. Biol. 532:29–53, 2009.
• Luo, Z.-X., P. Chen, G. Li, and M. Chen. A new eutriconodont mammal and evolutionary development in early mammals. Nature 446:288–93, 2007.
• Relyea, R. A., and D. K. Jones. The toxicity of Roundup Original MAX™ to thirteen species of larval amphibians. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 28(9):2004–8, 2009.
• Tonsor, S. J., et al. Heat shock protein 101 effects in A. thaliana: genetic variation, fitness, and pleiotropy in controlled temperature conditions. Mol. Ecol. 17(6):1614–26, 2008.
• Bakker, E. G., M. B. Traw et al. Low levels of polymorphism in genes that control the activation of defense response in A. thaliana.Genetics 178:2031–43, 2008.

Correspondence and Information

University of Pittsburgh
Cathy Barr
Recruitment and Admissions Committee
Department of Biological Sciences
A-234 Langley Hall
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
Telephone: 412-624-4268
Fax: 412-624-4759
Email: biophd@pitt.edu