Connected Science Community Marine and Environmental Sciences PhD Program

A new kind of PhD training

Conduct groundbreaking Marine and Environmental Sciences research and develop skills that open a vast set of future careers with the support of a cross-College PhD Community!

The Connected Science Community Marine and Environmental Sciences PhD Program provides students with advanced course work and training in the concentration areas of marine sciences, geosciences, sustainability sciences, ecology and evolutionary biology.

Research areas include climate change and ocean acidification, behavioral and evolutional ecology, coastal marine ecology, fisheries and ecosystem service valuation, coral reef ecology, coupled human natural systems, ecological modeling, and marine molecular biology, biodiversity, and genomics.

You will be joining a graduate program that is committed to cultivating a culture of respect and collaboration where the contribution of each person is valued.

Participate in groundbreaking marine and environmental sciences research

Marine and Environmental Sciences
Biomimetic Underwater Robot Program
Dr. Ayers' research focus is on the neuroethology of motor systems in invertebrates and lower vertebrates and the application of this knowledge to the development of advanced robots.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Detrich Lab
One central strategy of the Detrich Lab's work is the comparative approach to adaptational evolutionary biology – they use phylogenetically controlled contrasts to evaluate molecular causation in natural experiments, such as the evolution of proteins to function efficiently at cold temperature. O..
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Lotterhos Lab
The Lotterhos Lab at Northeastern Marine Science Center seeks to understand how climate has shaped marine biodiversity and how a now rapidly changing climate will affect biodiversity in the future.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Vollmer Lab
This research group studies the evolution and ecology of marine organisms using cutting-edge, next-generation sequencing, which had revolutionized molecular genetics by providing unprecedented access to the genetic variation in any organism’s genome or transcriptome.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Emergent Epidemics Lab
Research in the Emergent Epidemics Lab spans a broad range of topics in complex systems and network science, with an emphasis on infectious disease dynamics and forecasting/predictive models.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Bowen Lab
Much of the research in the Bowen Lab is focused on how salt marsh microbial communities, and in particular those microbes that are important in the nitrogen cycle, respond to global change drivers.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Grabowski Lab
The Grabowski lab focuses on marine ecology, fisheries, conservation biology, social-ecological coupling, environmental policy, and ecological economics.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Helmuth Lab
The Helmuth lab uses mathematical and physical models to incorporate the many factors of our changing climate to predict patterns of body temperature in key intertidal organisms around the world.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Hughes Lab
The lab is interested in the interactions among the numbers and identity of species, the genetic individuals that make up those species, and the ecosystem services that they provide.  They use a combination of lab and field experiments, molecular techniques, and data synthesis to understand the co..
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Kimbro Lab
The Kimbro lab studies why coastal habitats such as salt marshes and oyster reefs thrive in certain areas, but not in others.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Earth Surface Systems Lab
The lab studies hydrologic and climatic variability and its connections to the natural and built environment. They are interested in how floods, droughts, and other climate-related hazards shape landscapes and societies across the land-sea interface.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Ries Lab
The program investigates a wide range of subjects in the marine and geological sciences, including global climate change, ocean acidification, paleoceanography, paleobiology, carbonate sedimentology, isotope geochemistry, biomineralization, and carbon sequestration.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Trussell Lab
Research in the Trussell Lab is focused on the ecology and evolution of marine communties, in particular the role of species interactions in shaping communities. This work involves laboratory projects and field research that spans the breadth of habitats in the Gulf of Maine.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
STReSS Laboratory
The STReSS Lab allows for critical advances in security and sustainability, as structures and their components are tested for resilience against hazards and events both man made and natural.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sensors Lab @ Northeastern University
The Environmental Sensors Lab develops new sensors, instruments, and signal processing strategies to optimize our ability to study the natural and built environments.  
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Sustainability & Data Sciences Laboratory (SDS Lab)
Researching computational and data-enabled solutions for a sustainable and secure environment.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Patterson Lab
The Patterson lab works to develop autonomous underwater robots for civil infrastructure and marine sensing and decision support tools for gray/green infrastructure like tide gates while studying environmental fluid mechanics,biomechanics, and mass transfer in living systems.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Dr. Rosengaus’ Lab
Dr. Rosengaus’ research tries to understand the factors that may have selected for the evolution of insect sociality. This work is at the interface of evolutionary biology, behavioral and chemical ecology, immunology and genetics. Social insects represent excellent social test organisms to answer..
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Stubbins Lab
Aron Stubbin's research fouses on environmental chemistry, geochemistry, the carbon cycle, freshwater, coastal and ocean biogeochemistry, feedbacks between natural biogeochemical cycles and climate change, permafrost, black carbon, and aquatic microplastics
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Eckelman Lab
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Coastal Sustainability Institute at the Marine Science Center
The MSC's research topics relate to understanding how the projected impacts of climate change will affect marine habitants, and how urban communities along the coast can best prepare for these impacts.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Marine Science Center
An internationally recognized research institution that focuses on the ocean environment, marine life and ecology, and discovering biotechnological and medical potentials in the sea. Projects include building underwater robots and creating genetically engineered seaweed to clean wastewater from a..
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Center for STEM Education
This university-wide center aspires to play a key role in shaping and implementing the K-20 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education strategy at Northeastern University, and to impact STEM teaching and learning at all levels, both locally and nationally.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Distel Lab
The Distel Lab studies the evolution, physiological ecology, genomics, and metabolism of marine bacteria and bacteria-animal symbioses, with a focus on symbioses between bacteria and bivalve mollusks. Most recently, Dr. Distel and his colleagues have described two new species of shipworms, with uni..
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Ocean Genome Legacy Center
The Ocean Genome Legacy Center (OGL) at Northeastern University's Marine Science Center is a non-profit research organization and biological specimen repository dedicated to exploring and preserving the wealth of information contained in the genomes of endangered, rare, unusual, and ecologically cr..
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Socio-ecological Dynamics, Plant Ecology, and the Science-policy Lab
We examine socio-ecological plant systems that preserve biodiversity and foster resilience to a changing climate, including how plant population and community dynamics impact human well-being and management decision-making, and how those decisions feed back to influence ecosystem dynamics.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Ocean Literacy
Led by Assistant Professor Alison Glassie research areas include environmental humanities, qualitative and narrative approaches, oral history.
Marine and Environmental Sciences
Sustainability ​Science Lab
Research includes representation and communication of social–ecological models, cultural models in environmental decision making, stakeholder engagement in environmental policy, and environmental communication.

How the Connected Science Community Marine and Environmental Sciences PhD program works

The Connected Science Community and Marine and Environmental Sciences PhD Program is designed to give you empowering, groundbreaking training.

Upon joining the program, you will also join a Connected Science Community of PhD students across the College of Science. During the summer before your first year, you will participate in workshops to develop key skills, explore and utilize university resources, and learn about potential post-PhD careers.

During Fall semester of your first year, you will begin coursework and continue research in your department. Throughout your first year and beyond, you will continue your research while sustaining your Connected Science Community through seminars, workshops, and social activities.

In this unique PhD training program, you’ll:

– join a Community of PhD students across all College of Science departments, who learn from each other, collaborate, and draw on one other’s experience;

– develop Career and Core Skills and inside knowledge of the outstanding career opportunities open to our PhD graduates;

– explore Cross-Disciplinary Research to help you solve pressing research challenges; and

– gain external Work Experience – an integral part of your professional training, with many opportunities.

A Culture of Respect

In the Northeastern University College of Science, we embrace a culture of respect and inclusion, where each person is valued and empowered with equitable opportunities and access to resources. We commit to implementing initiatives that dismantle systemic oppression and build a diverse community.

Learn more

Additional information

Is the program funded?

For the duration of their program, students receive full tuition scholarship, a graduate assistant position with stipend, and health insurance.

When is the application deadline?

The deadline to apply is December 1.

What are the program requirements?

Bachelor’s Degree Entrance
Complete all courses and requirements listed here unless otherwise indicated.

Milestones

  • Annual review
  • Dissertation committee
  • Qualifying examination
  • Dissertation proposal
  • Candidacy
  • First-author publication
  • Dissertation defense

Program Credit/GPA Requirements

  • 30 total semester hours required
  • Minimum 3.000 GPA required

Want to learn more about the Connected Science Community Marine and Environmental Sciences PhD program? Fill out the form below and a team member will be in touch.

Your career starts here. Apply today.

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