Integrative Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, PhD

The PhD program in Integrative Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at Delaware State University provides students with the unique opportunity to study the multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary areas of natural sciences related to modern agricultural production, food technologies, and environmental quality.

Prospective students will experience a diverse academic life and gain a broad knowledge scope while concentrating on a particular area tailored to individualized interests and career goals. Doctoral candidates are connected to the eminent faculty of the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology and have ready access to laboratories, greenhouses, farms, and field sites to conduct frontier research on sustainable agriculture, natural resources management, renewable energy and bioproducts, food chemistry and microbiology, and environmental quality assessment and pollution control.

PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION

The Integrative Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences PhD program prepares competent professionals and scientists for academic institutes, research laboratories, governmental agencies and industries. Graduates are equipped with outstanding independent workability and leadership skills in addition to up-to-date knowledge and research techniques. The potential careers include but are not limited to:

Agricultural and environmental research and education
Sustainable agricultural production
Soil and natural resources conservation
Environmental control and watershed management
Renewable energy and bioproducts development
Food industry

FACULTY

The faculty in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Human Ecology, Department of Chemistry, Department of Biological Sciences, and Division of Physics, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science have been accomplishing numerous grant projects funded by federal, state, and industrial sectors to conduct cutting-edge research and student training on sustainable agricultural production, biotechnologies, and environmental management. All doctoral candidates have a major advisor, a dissertation committee, and faculty mentors to guide them through the PhD study.

RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE

The College of Agriculture, Science and Technology has an array of research centers, laboratories, greenhouses, and cooperative extension services at the main Dover campus. There are two farms located within ten (10) miles of the main campus for agricultural research, education, and extension. Well-equipped research laboratories are exemplified as follows:

Molecular Genetics and Epigenomics Lab
Soil Health Evaluation Lab
Plant Pathology Lab
Aquaculture Research and Demonstration Facilities
Environmental GIS Lab
Environmental Chemistry Lab
Natural Resources Conservation Labs
Food Microbiology Lab
Food Chemistry Lab
Bioinformatics Lab

REQUIRED COURSES

Enrolled students are mandated to fulfill the PhD program requirements by establishing doctoral candidacy, earning 45–60 credits through essential course work, and conducting independent, systematic research to write a defendable dissertation under the supervision of a dissertation committee. The essential course work includes 24 core credits from Graduate Seminar, Experimental Design and Analysis, Research Problems, and Dissertation Research, 12 disciplinary credits from courses determined by the major advisor, and 9–24 elective credits from courses recommended by the dissertation committee.

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