The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the School of Biological Sciences offers a program of study leading to the Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences. Details on application procedures may be found under Admission in the section describing the graduate program. Research in the Department may be conducted at the molecular, biochemical, organismal, population, or community level. Emphasis is placed on development of theory and the formulation and experimental testing of hypotheses that lead to further understanding of important ecological and evolutionary issues.
Experimentation is carried out under field and laboratory conditions.
Primary attention is focused on ecological and evolutionary mechanisms, rather than on individual taxa or habitats. Although the UCI campus is located in populous Southern California, a diversity of undisturbed natural settings lies close to campus, including sandy and rocky intertidal, chaparral, montane forest, alpine, and desert ecosystems. The University of California Natural Reserve System , a variety of private reserves and research stations, and state and national forest land provide ready access for field research. In addition, graduate research is frequently conducted farther afield in a variety of natural settings, both domestic and foreign. Students use the Department's sophisticated laboratory and field instruments and equipment.