The M.S. degree in Animal Sciences may be earned for a program of study in reproductive physiology, animal health, nutrition or management.  The Ph.D. degree may be earned by completing a program of study in Food and Nutrition Sciences or Biological Sciences.  Thesis research constitutes a major portion of the M.S. and Ph.D. programs.  Students are required to take Graduate Seminar (AVS 633).  Ph.D. students must present four seminars and M.S. students must present two seminars.  For the M.S. degree, a minimum of 30 semester hours, including credit given for the thesis, is required.  The minimum amount of credit for the thesis is 6 hours and in no case may it exceed 15 hours.  In addition, a minimum of 12 hours (exclusive of thesis) of 500- and/or 600-level course work is required.  Additional requirements for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees can be found in the General Policies and Regulations of the Graduate School elsewhere in this catalog.

Students interested in pursuing graduate studies in animal nutrition should have undergraduate courses in mathematics, physics, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and quantitative analysis.  Training in physiology and biochemistry is desirable for students interested in animal physiology, and some work in statistics is desirable for all graduate students.

Graduate students will take many of their formal graduate courses in supporting departments, depending upon their specific interests and fields of study.

Graduate students appointed to assistantships in Animal and Veterinary Sciences devote a minimum of half time to research or teaching activities.  Complete research facilities are available, including laboratories and animal units, with opportunities for field tests.

The program also offers a non-thesis Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) degree in Animal Sciences.  Requirements for the M.P.S. are 30 credit hours, of which at least 15 hours must be 500- and/or 600-level.  In addition, each student will be required to complete a minimum of three hours in an “independent study” type course in the area of Animal and Veterinary Science.  The M.P.S. student is required to demonstrate competence in chosen fields of specialization during an oral comprehensive examination at the completion of his or her program.  Courses selected must include a minimum of 12 credits in Animal and Veterinary Sciences.  In addition, a minimum of 12 hours must be selected in a specialized field of study.  The three credit “independent study” type course is to be a short-term research project.  Upon completion of the project, a written report will be presented to the major professor and a seminar on the project will be presented to the Animal Science faculty and students.

Graduate Faculty

Katherine Allen, Ph.D. (Columbia, 2013)  Associateistant Professor. Paleoceanography, marine geology and geochemistry.

Sean Birkel, Ph.D. (UMaine, 2010), Research Assistant Professor.  Climate and ice sheet modeling.

Seth Campbell, Ph.D. (UMaine, 2014), Associateistant Professor.  Radar, ice geophysics and dynamics.

Alicia Cruz-Uribe, Ph.D. (Penn State, 2014), Associate Professor. Metamorphic petrology and geochemisty.

George H. Denton, Ph.D. (Yale, 1965), Professor. Quaternary and Glacial Geology.

Christopher C. Gerbi, Ph.D. (Maine, 2005), Professor. Rheology, geodynamics, ice dynamics and geophysics.

Edward S. Grew, Ph.D. (Harvard, 1971), Research Professor. Metamorphic petrology, mineralogy and geochemistry.

Brenda L. Hall, Ph.D. (Maine, 1997), Professor. Quaternary and Glacial Geology, abrupt millennial-scale climate change,  and ice- sheet stability, and geochronology.

Scott E. Johnson, Ph.D. (James Cook, 1989), Professor. Structural geology, microstructural processes, Earth rheology, tectonics, coupling of deformation and metamorphism.

Alice R. Kelley, Ph.D. (Maine, 2007), Instructor. Geoarcheology, surficial processes.

Joseph T. Kelley, Ph.D. (Lehigh, 1980), Professor. Marine geology, sedimentology.

Peter O. Koons, (E.T.H., 1983), Professor. Mechanics of mountain building, interaction of surface processes and plate tectonics, the evolution of active continental margins, mantle deformation, atmosphere-topography interactions.

Karl J. Kreutz, Ph.D. (New Hampshire, 1998), Professor. Climate science and geochemistryClimate science and geochemistry.

Andrei Kurbatov, Ph.D. (SUNY Buffalo, 2001), Associate Professor. Explosive volcanism, tephrachronology, glaciochemistry.

Kirk A. Maasch, Ph.D. (Yale, 1989), Professor. Climate Modeling.

Paul A. Mayewski, Ph.D. (Ohio State, 1973), Professor. Glaciology, paleoclimatology, ice core geochemistry.

Stephen A. Norton, Ph.D. (Harvard, 1967), Professor Emeritus. Environmental geochemistry.

Amanda A. Olsen, Ph.D. (Virginia Tech, 2007), Associate Professor. Environmental geochemistry.

Aaron Putnam, Ph.D. (Maine, 2011), Associate Professor. Quaternary and glacial geology.

Andrew S. Reeve, Ph.D. (Syracuse, 1996), Professor. Hydrogeology.

Kristin Schild, Ph.D. (Dartmouth, 2017), Assistant Professor. Geomatics, remote sensing, ice-ocean interactions, physical glaciology.

Sean M.C. Smith, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University, 2011), Associate Professor. Geomorphology and Watershed Processes.

Jiaze Wang, Ph.D. (Louisiana State University, 2018), Assistant Professor, Coastal processes and coastal numerical modeling. 

Martin G. Yates, Ph.D. (Indiana, 1987), Associate Scientist. Electron beam and X-ray facilities, ore deposits.