Ohio University hosts a broad paleontology program spanning three departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students can earn graduate degrees in paleontology in three departments: Geological Sciences, Biological Sciences,orEnvironmental and Plant Biology. The graduate program offered by each department is unique and designed to provide excellent backgrounds in the different areas of paleontology as outlined below. All graduate programs offer some flexibility; students enrolled as a graduate student in one department may enroll in related courses offered by the other departments.
Paleontology students in these departments are further linked by their membership within the OHIO Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, an interdisciplinary center that encourages and supports research in all aspects of organismal biology. Among its primary activities, OHIO-CEES organizes a seminar series, Ecolunch, and provides grants for student research.
Master's students studying paleontology in the department of Geological Science undertake research emphasizing the relationship between organisms, sedimentary environments, and Earth History. Specific research topics vary but include paleobiogeography, ichnology, paleoecology, and macroevolutionary patterns across a wide array of taxonomic groups. Master's students participate in a flexible curriculum in which students customize their coursework to best match their career and research goals. Students enter either PhD programs, industry or consulting positions, or museum work following graduation. Additional program details are available at the department and university registrar's websites.
Students study paleontology in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) graduate program of the Department of Biological Sciences. This program emphasizes how organisms interact with their environment and how these interactions have resulted in organismal diversity. Student research projects emphasize functional morphology and evolutionary patterns within vertebrate taxa. Research and coursework covers a variety of disciplines and research interests but is unified by the theme that ecological interactions result in evolutionary process and evolution. Additional program details are available at the EEB program and university registrar's websites.
Paleontology students in this department pursue graduate work in paleobotany. Student research focuses on fossil plants, but structure, growth and development and physiology studies of living plants also are conducted. Coursework emphasizes all aspects of plant biology to provide a strong background for paleontological interpretation. Additional program details are available at the department and university registrar's websites.
