Ours is a vibrant, cohesive department practicing at the highest standards of scholarship. Faculty and students work together at the doctoral or masters-to-doctoral levels to pursue studies that address fundamental questions in the Earth and environmental sciences, spanning deep geological timescales to human and societal timescales. The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers the following graduate degrees:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences provides comprehensive training for students who wish to become professional scientists and\/or to teach Earth and environmental sciences at the university level. This is generally a five-year program and includes full funding<\/a>. The Ph.D. program is for students with a M.S. degree or whom are aimed specifically at the Ph.D. Note that all students without an M.S. degree will earn the M.S. as part of the Ph.D. curriculum. EES accepts Ph.D. applicants directly from undergraduate study as well as applicants who have already completed a M.S. degree in the field.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The M.S. in Earth and Environmental Sciences is a two-year, research-intensive program for students seeking a M.S. degree, with at least an interest in continuing into the Ph.D. program. EES is not currently recruiting students who seek only a terminal M.S. Please inquire if you are unsure which program to apply to.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Application is made to the Graduate School. We encourage students to view the Graduate School Catalog<\/a> and apply via the Graduate School Online Application. The deadline for receipt of graduate applications is January 1st.<\/strong> Applications to EES may be accepted at a later date, but financial aid decisions are generally made in late January. Applications received by the deadline therefore have the best chance of success. When applying to our program, you should also contact the professor(s) with whom you would like to work. It is very important to connect with a potential faculty mentor prior to applying for best chance at admission. Note:<\/strong> Our other graduate faculty members are not actively recruiting at the moment, but all graduate faculty are always looking to be connected with talented students. More information about all EES department faculty can be found here<\/a>. To receive support connecting with a potential faculty mentor, applicants should submit our 2025 EES Graduate Program Potential Applicant Survey<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\r\n As part of our effort to create a more equitable application process and to increase access to graduate education in the geosciences, we have instituted the following policies with the support of the Vanderbilt Graduate School:<\/p>\r\n NOTE:<\/strong>\u00a0In Vanderbilt’s online application system, applicants for the\u00a0graduate program in EES<\/strong>\u00a0should select\u00a0Natural Sciences & Mathematics<\/em>\u00a0as your\u00a0Area of Study<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Earth and Environmental Sciences<\/em>\u00a0as your\u00a0Program<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n You will need to submit a statement of purpose as part of your application and the application prompt is relatively general. We are providing the following prompt as guidance for the statement of purpose:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Applicants whose native language is not English must present the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) with the application.<\/strong> This requirement may be waived if you have earned a degree from an English-speaking institution. If applicable, please contact Tori Taylor to apply for a waiver once you have already started your application. With your waiver request, please include your country of origin and name of most recent degree institution. Our department will also accept Duolingo English Test examination results for the 2025-2026 application cycle.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n The deadline for all language waiver requests is December 1st. We cannot guarantee that requests received after this deadline will be applied to applications prior to the January 1st application deadline.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Our program is highly competitive and admits a very small percentage of applicants each year. The department awards a limited number of application fee waivers to highly qualified applicants that demonstrate the potential to be successful in the Vanderbilt EES PhD program and will be conducting research that aligns with our actively recruiting lab groups<\/a>.<\/strong> To qualify for a departmental fee waiver, applicants must first correspond with the faculty advisor leading the actively recruiting lab group for the upcoming year. Applicants must also confirm that they are not eligible for a Graduate School fee waiver. Graduate School fee waiver information can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n Please complete this form<\/a> to request a fee waiver.<\/p>\r\n The deadline for all fee waiver requests is December 1st. Fee waivers will only be applied to applications that are complete by the January 1st application deadline.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n All interested applicants should submit our 2025 EES Graduate Program Potential Applicant Survey<\/a><\/span> to subscribe to our mailing list, request language waiver support, receive support connecting with a potential faculty mentor, RSVP for a Zoom information session<\/a>, or submit a specific question. For any inquiries related to EES Graduate Admissions, please contact eesgradadmissions@vanderbilt.edu<\/a>, but note that response priority will be given to those who submit a survey form. Due to limited staffing during the holiday season, applicants are encouraged to submit all application questions prior to December 15th for best response times.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Graduate Study in Earth and Environmental Sciences Ours is a vibrant, cohesive department practicing at the highest standards of scholarship. Faculty and students work together at the doctoral or masters-to-doctoral levels to pursue studies that address fundamental questions in the Earth and environmental sciences, spanning deep geological timescales to human and societal timescales. The Department…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":768,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-headline-img.php","meta":{"spay_email":""},"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":55,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2666,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions\/2666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/earth-environmental-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\r\n\r\n<\/h3>\r\n
The M.S. to Ph.D. Pathway in Earth and Environmental Sciences<\/h3>\r\n
Applying to the EES Program<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\u00a0For the 2025 admissions cycle the following faculty are actively recruiting to their lab groups:
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Application Details<\/h4>\r\n
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\u201cPursuing graduate studies in science requires that students continually make use of their curiosity, creativity, and perseverance. Please describe your personal development in relation to these qualities, broadly or through specific experiences. Please also discuss what motivates you to pursue graduate study, including your research interests, and why Vanderbilt EES would be a good intellectual fit for you.\u201d<\/h3>\r\n
Language Requirement<\/h6>\r\n
Application Fee<\/h6>\r\n
Inquiries<\/h6>\r\n