Information for students
TCBES Handbook
Everything you need to know about the when, what and where of the M.S. TCBES program is in the TCBES Survival Guide!
Forms
- TCBES Program Overview
- TCBES Application Guidelines
- Graduate Studies at UH Hilo
- UH Hilo Graduate Handbook
- Graduate Forms
- Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines
Funding
Need help finding funding for your graduate career? Click the link below to get a compiled list of funding opportunities, put together by previous Cohorts.
- Funding List Fall 2019
- Funding List Fall 2018
- Funding List Fall 2017
- Funding List Fall 2016
- Funding List Fall 2015
Graduate Assistantships and Fellowships are available, please check back for the new application deadlines in mid-November 2020.
Fellowships are available with the Hau'oli Mau Loa Foundation for TCBES students.
Graduate Assistantships within Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science (TCBES) at UH Hilo.
- Please follow this link for additional information on our Graduate Assistantships for the 2021-2022 academic year
Class Preparation
MS TCBES Students are required to take a total of 8 credits in core courses. Some topics to become familiar with that will prepare you the for core courses CBES 600 Conservatn Biol & Environ Sci (3) and CBES 601 CBES Field & Laboratory Method (4) are listed below.
Environment and Environmental Science
- Environment, habitat, ecosystem
- Energy, matter, thermodynamics
- Atmosphere, soil, water, marine composition and chemistry
- Sustainability, stewardship, ethics
- Stability, resilience, persistence, recovery, restoration, uncertainty
Biogeography
- Biomes, ecoregions, life zones
- Climatic indices, such as potential evapo-transpiration, to designate life zones
Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems
- Populations, metapopulations, assemblages, and ecotones
- Logistic growth and density-dependent population regulation
- Keystone and dominant species
- Ecosystem structure and ecosystem function
- Community interactions, especially inter- and intraspecific competition and predation
- Habitat, niche, and range
- Biogeochemical (nutrient) cycles and productivity
Spatial and Temporal Variation or Heterogeneity
- Microhabitats, habitats, and landscapes
- Temporal cycles, fluctuations, and disturbances or perturbations
- Primary and secondary succession
Theory
- Individualistic vs. super-organismic model of communities
- Equilibrium vs. non-equilibrium models
Anthropogenic Pollution
- Anthropogenic
- Accumulation and bio-magnification of pollutants
- Cultural eutrophication
- Relationships among major biogeochemical cycles (especially carbon and other greenhouse gases) and climate change
Genetics and Evolution
- Mitosis and meiosis
- Genome, chromosome, haploidy, and diploidy
- Mendelian genetics
- Gene expression, transcription, and translation
- Allele, gene, and locus
- Hardy-Weinberg equation, including its utility and assumptions
- Species concepts
- Natural selection, random genetic drift, mutation, and gene flow
Research Design
- Be familiar with the following terms used in data analysis: sample size, normal distribution, mean, median, variance, standard error, standard deviation, histogram, test statistic, parametric vs. non-parametric statistics, descriptive statistics, power, and power analysis.
- Be familiar with basic statistical tests (regression, t-tests, analysis of variance, chi-square).
- Be comfortable with data manipulation, making tables and graphs, and writing papers in scientific writing style similar to what is published in a journal such as Conservation Biology.
- Be comfortable with giving oral presentations on scientific topics.