Graduate Program Requirements
Graduate Courses
Students working towards a Master of Science in Quaternary and Climate Studies or the Certificate of Interdisciplinary Climate Studies are required to complete the following courses:
Responsible Conduct of Research
All UMaine graduate students enrolled in research (thesis) programs must receive one credit of Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training prior to completing the degree, preferably prior to commencing research. Courses satisfying the RCR requirement can be found here.
ERS 542 – Atmosphere, Ocean, Ice, and Climate Change
Designed to introduce graduate students to the main components of Earth’s climate system. Topics include: Heating of the earth by solar radiation, Radiation balance, Composition and circulation of the atmosphere and ocean. Geographic distribution and motion of ice. Feedbacks between components of the climate system. Past changes in the radiative forcing, atmosphere, ocean, and ice on Earth. Climate change on time scales ranging from years to millions of years. Prerequisite: ERS541 or permission. (3 credits)
INT 500 – Interdisciplinary Applications in Climate Science
Selected areas of study – physical, biological and anthropological – related to the Quaternary Period.
Each Fall semester will have a new topical focus area.
Choice of ANT 510/BIO510 or ANT 530
ANT 510/BIO 510– Climate, Culture and the Biosphere
Explores the coupled dynamics of humans and the biosphere through time, from hominid evolution more than 2.5 million years ago to the present era. Curriculum draws from anthropology, geography, paleoecology, and climate science to inform on the integrated human-environment relationship in the context of global change. ANT 510 and BIO 510 are identical courses. (3 credits)
or
ANT 530 – Human Dimensions of Climate Change
Multi-disciplinary overview of selected social science topics on humans and climate change. Critical anthropological attention to what this literature overlooks and how these omissions can be dealt with. (3 credits)