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2024-2025 Graduate Catalog
Environmental Engineering, Ph.D.
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Concentration:
- Engineering for International Development
The Ph.D. degree is awarded in recognition of demonstrated scholarly competence and ability to conduct and report original and significant research in Environmental Engineering.
The field of Environmental Engineering has long been known for its breadth and ability to adapt to the new technological, societal, and global problems facing the environment. Major research areas include water quality engineering; air quality engineering; fate and transport of contaminants in the environment; environmental biotechnology and nanotechnology; waste management; sustainability and ecological engineering; surface water hydrology and hydraulics; groundwater hydrology; water reuse; green engineering; renewable energy; fate of emerging contaminants; and humanitarian engineering with a focus on the developing world. Graduates of the major are prepared for careers in academia, governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or private industry and firms involved in planning, design, research and development, or policy.
Accreditation:
The Florida Board of Professional Engineers allows for successful completion of a graduate studies leading to Ph.D., degree in engineering to provide credit toward two year of engineering experience.
Major Research Areas:
Water quality engineering; air quality engineering; fate and transport of contaminants in the environment; environmental biotechnology and nanotechnology; waste management; sustainability and ecological engineering; surface water hydrology and hydraulics; groundwater hydrology; water reuse; green engineering; renewable energy; fate of emerging contaminants; and humanitarian engineering with a focus on the developing world.
The environmental engineering laboratories provide state-of-the-art analytical and experimental equipment for chemical and biological research. Equipment includes an ion chromatograph, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, several gas chromatrographs (including with mass spectometry), HPLC, TOC machine, and environmental chambers. Field research sites are available locally and in several international settings that include developing world communities.
Admission Information
Must meet University Admission and English Proficiency requirements as well as requirements for admission to the major, listed below.
- Undergraduate GPA greater than 3.3 preferred;
- GRE with preferred minimum scores of V (45th percentile), Q (75th percentile) AW (55th percentile)
- Resume provided at the time of application
- Three (3) letters of reference provided at the time of application
- Statement of Purpose provided at the time of application
- Exceptions made on a case-by-case basis where warranted.
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Curriculum Requirements
Total Minimum Hours:
78 hours minimum post-bachelors
48 hours minimum post-masters
- Core course requirements - 9 credit hours
- Other required courses - 5 credit hours
- Concentration (if any) - 9 credit hours
- Electives - 27 credit hours minimum
- Dissertation - 20 credit hours minimum
- Other requirements - 8 credit hours minimum
Core Course requirements (9 Credit Hours)
Other required courses (5 Credit Hours)
Concentration Requirements (9 Credit Hours Minimum)
Students may opt to complete the concentration or an additional 9 hours of coursework as noted below.
Engineering for International Development (9 Credit Hours)
This Concentration acknowledges coursework and international field experience in the area of engineering for international development that considers issues of sustainable development, water, sanitation, and health (WaSH), gender, and society. This graduate concentration requires:
- coursework in global health, applied anthropology (medical, environmental, and development), and Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WaSH) engineering,
- a development-focused research component, and
- a long-term overseas field experience in sustainable development as a WaSH engineer, which in most cases will form part of the basis of the student’s dissertation. The international field experience allows a student to remain enrolled as a full-time student (with zero tuition/fees) and gain development experience serving with Peace Corps and Nongovernmental Development Organizations. Graduates are competitive for employment in the global WaSH development field.
Students engaged in full-time global training and/or service as part of the EFD Concentration (e.g., in the U.S. Peace Corps, with a nongovernmental organization, UNESCO-IHE, or equivalent) may register for CST 6990 for 0 credit hours while in their country of service/research.
A minimum of 1 course from the following applied anthropology courses: (3 Credit Hours)
A minimum of 1 course from the following global public health courses: (3 Credit Hours)
Electives (27 Credit Hours Minimum)
Students complete an additional 27 credits of coursework if in the Concentration, or an additional 36 credits of coursework if not in the Concentration, in Environmental Engineering or related areas, of which at least three (3) credits must be structured coursework in Environmental Engineering specifically, or other graduate course approved by the Graduate Director. These credits may include up to nine (9) credits of Independent Study and/or )(6 units of Master’s Thesis, pending the approval of the Department, the College, and the Office of Graduate Studies. Directed research and/or dissertation credits may not be counted towards this coursework requirement.
Qualifying Exam
Doctoral students are expected to pass a qualifying examination no later than the semester following the completion of 48 credits of coursework beyond a bachelor’s degree. At minimum, the Exam will include a written dissertation proposal and oral defense by the Dissertation Committee. A written exam in the area of concentration may also be required. Poor performance on the Qualifying Exam based on the judgment of the Committee may result in the student failing the exam. If a student does not pass on the first attempt, he/she may request in writing to repeat the Exam. Students who fail the Qualifying Examination the second time will be dismissed by the Major.
Dissertation Requirements (20 Credit Hours Minimum)
A minimum of 20 credits of dissertation hours, an approved Ph.D. dissertation, and a dissertation defense are required. Students may not sign up for dissertation credits until they have defended their proposal and advanced to candidacy (see Qualifying Exam, above). For EFD Concentration, at least one chapter of the dissertation should be on the international fieldwork.
Other Requirements (8 Credit Hours Minimum)
Eight (8) credits of additional coursework, dissertation, or directed research are required.
Students must have at least one paper accepted to a peer-reviewed journal or peer-reviewed conference based on their research carried out during their doctoral studies at USF.
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