PhD students conduct independent, innovative and scholarly research within the field of environment and natural resources.

Students are expected to make an original contribution to the body of knowledge. They formulate research questions that probe the limits of what is known, identify the major issues involved, and develop a thorough understanding of the relevant theory bases and methodologies, demonstrate creativity in research design, use critical rigor to analyze and discuss their findings, and disseminate their research.

Students have extensive freedom to customize the course selection in their program of study and include interdisciplinary coursework from other university departments.