Advice for potential Ecology/Env Science PhD applicant

[contazia]

Hi everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice, as I just embarking on my Master's from the Environmental Management program at Harvard's Extension School. Not my first choice for a master's program, but I am a discipline switcher and also need to remain local for now. I will be taking some regular Harvard classes as a special student as well, so there's that. I will be undertaking a research-based thesis.

I am positive that I want to get a PhD focusing on agricultural ecology, hence getting a master's relevant to my PhD. My undergrad was unfortunately only tangentially related in that I had a Poli Sci major and want to at least touch on policy issues in my research, but am definitely interested in the science side of things as well. It seems interdisciplinary environmental/sustainability programs are going to be the way I want to go.

Background:

-3.48 GPA from top 5 liberal arts school, >3.7 GPA in my Poli Sci major. Also majored in Comp Sci

-Took the GRE, got 770Q, 680V, and 4.5 writing (was astonished, writing is usually my best thing)...I will have to take it again when I reapply, since I'll be 5 years out

-Have prestigious job and research experience, but not related to what I want to do

-Tutored and TA'ed classes

-Some coursework in econ, statistics, public policy, bio

-I have some significant volunteer work in wildlife conservation/research and animal handling

So, I have 2 or so years to beef up my application to get into top PhD programs, and I was hoping to get all my ducks in a row. I suspect I am going to be happiest at programs similar to the ESPM program at Berkeley, but I admittedly could be wrong. Any suggestions for programs to look into would be great.

What do I need to do to make myself into an appealing environmental sciences/ecology applicant over the course of my master's degree? Advice specifically on the following would be fantastic as well

-What courses should I make sure to have?

-Should I be taking a subject test GRE?

-Should I TA?

-Is getting published very important?

-Who should I focus on getting letters of rec from?

-What obvious weaknesses am I going to have to compensate for?

[UnlikelyGrad]

Speaking as someone on the science side of environmental issues--if you want to get into the science side, you're going to need to have a decent science background. At the very least, a year of general chemistry and some biology/ecology...I personally think organic chem would be very useful (since most of the environmental issues people worry about are organic chem...the stuff I do is not in the forefront of people's minds).

What is your science background?

[contazia]

Speaking as someone on the science side of environmental issues--if you want to get into the science side, you're going to need to have a decent science background. At the very least, a year of general chemistry and some biology/ecology...I personally think organic chem would be very useful (since most of the environmental issues people worry about are organic chem...the stuff I do is not in the forefront of people's minds).

What is your science background?

Thanks for the quick reply!

My science background is technically existent, but only just barely. I was mainly a social scientist in undergrad, which is where I did my research/coursework. I will have a decent Bio background before my Master's is completed though. I have a mid-level Evolution class from college (placed out of intro Bio) and am currently finishing up Molecular Bio and Ecology this summer, and I intend on taking at least a couple more Bio classes (Cell Bio most likely as one of them, the others are less certain).

I was planning on getting a full year of general chem in, but organic chem is kind of up in the air. It's good to know that it might be worth taking. I was wondering if I should do Atmospheric Science or Geology or some of the other physical sciences. Biogeochemistry is in my plan for the fall, but that might be a bit more applied than I need.

My main concern is balancing the physical/life sciences with the social sciences, since I want to do a bit of both to some extent. Obviously, I'm going to have to strongly lean one way or the other, but I'm convinced that I'll need to understand at least the foundations in both for my research. Which way? I admit I'm a bit fuzzy on that part for the moment.

I was amused when a program I was looking at (can't remember which) wanted a background in Geology, Ecology, Economics, Public Policy, Statistics, Calculus, Chemistry, and Physics. My husband was reading with me and joked that "oh, I guess they wanted you to have majored in everything".

[UnlikelyGrad]

What matters most of all is what you plan to specialize in. You will NEED to specialize in something. Basically, you need to decide among the following three options: atmospheric stuff, aquatic stuff, and soil stuff. My oldest sister and I are theoretically both doing environmental stuff (she's a tenured Env Eng prof) but she does atmospheric research and I do aquatic chemistry (though I'm trying to jump over to the soil field). I understand only a small amount of what she does and vice versa.

Biogeochemistry is actually what I do all day, every day. (It actually is 7 days/week sometimes!) There are quite a few people in this field at my school. Some are more biology-oriented and spend all of their time culturing stuff and seeing how it reacts with things. Some are very chemistry oriented, like my advisor; she struggles with the "bio" part and knows almost nothing about geology staples like mineralogy and soils. And some are very geology oriented though I have less contact with these...I'm working on it though!

If you are talking about going into ecology as in habitat protection, then you would want a strong biology background...but you would also want to think about what possible risks there are to your habitat of choice. Wetlands--probably organics from agricultural runoff (take organic chem). Mountains--toxic metals from acid mine drainage (maybe take inorganic chem but DEFINITELY take analytical). And so on...

You really can't make this decision without having a VERY SPECIFIC long-term plan...if you have one, let me know and we'll talk.

[Genomic Repairman]

Don't worry about organic, see if you can take an analytical chemistry course instead, it will be more beneficial. Unlikely is correct. But once you get in you need to get good LOR's from your advisor and another faculty member who is familiar with your work. Also publishing never hurts, so shoot for a paper. I did an M.S. as a bridge to getting my Ph.D. and in my two year masters, I was able to publish 3 manuscripts (1st author, 3rd author, somewhere knee-deep in the middle of the authorship orgy). Since you are mainly social science it is crucial that you do well in any remaining science courses that you have so that you don't appear to have holes in your scientific knowledge.