Information and Policies
Introduction
The Earth and Planetary Sciences contiguous five-year Bachelor's/Master's program allows motivated students to complete a B.S. in Earth sciences or environmental sciences, and then an M.S. in Earth sciences in five years with appropriate planning. The program is designed for students who have demonstrated aptitude for fundamental course work in the classroom, as well as the capacity, interest, and motivation to conduct independent research through collaborations with a faculty mentor.
Eligibility Requirements
Students enrolled in the Earth sciences B.S. or Environmental sciences B.S. programs who will complete their undergraduate degree within normative time (four years for students who enter the B.S. program as frosh, three years for sophomore transfer students, or two years for junior transfer students) are eligible for the contiguous Bachelor's/Master's program. Interested students from other majors may petition the department for admission to the pathway, provided that they have been participating in research with faculty in Earth and Planetary Sciences and have a coursework foundation that will enable success in the graduate curriculum. A GPA in the major of 3.0 or higher is required, as well as demonstrated research progress and a strong endorsement from a sponsoring faculty adviser. Students must complete their undergraduate degree requirements by the end of the summer quarter prior to enrolling in the M.S. program in the fall.
Application Process
Interested students should attend an information session during their junior year and complete an associated survey to declare their interest in the Bachelor's/Master's program. During the fall quarter of their senior year, students must formally apply to the master's program during the normal admissions cycle and through the standard graduate application process. The application deadline is typically in early January.
Course Requirements
Program Requirements
Students in the Bachelor's/Master's program must take a minimum of 35 credits total of graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses, of which no more than 15 credits may be upper-division undergraduate courses. Of the required graduate-level courses, a minimum of 20 credits must be courses other than supervised research (EART 297) except by special exception of the Graduate Council. All Bachelor's/Master's program students will take the required graduate core series of EART 203, Introductory Teaching Seminar, EART 204, Earth And Planetary Sciences Foundations, and EART 206, Great Papers in the Earth Sciences.
Students in the program must also take one graduate-level “analytical” course and one graduate-level “subject” course. The classes that fulfill these requirements are listed in the EPS Graduate Student Handbook and in the course lists below. Analytical and subject classes may be taken in the senior year; the credits will count toward 180 undergraduate credits and the course can count toward the B.S. degree upper-division elective requirement, but the analytical or subject content will fulfill the M.S. program requirement. However, class credits cannot be double counted in both B.S. and M.S. degrees, so students are still required to complete 35 credits (no more than 15 of which may be upper-division undergraduate) during their M.S. career. In addition, EART 195 cannot count toward the M.S. degree and students cannot earn credit for a graduate course when they have previously taken the cross-listed undergraduate version. In order to fulfill the capstone requirement for the M.S. degree, students must also complete a master's thesis (Plan I).
Subject Courses
Analytical Courses
| EART 225 | Statistics and Data Analysis in the Geosciences | 5 |
| EART 229 | Isotopic Methods in Environmental Science | 5 |
| EART 265 | Order of Magnitude Estimation | 5 |
| EART 266 | Geologic Signal Processing and Inverse Theory | 5 |
| AM 100 | Mathematical Methods for Engineers | 5 |
| AM 147 | Computational Methods and Applications | 5 |
| AM 211 | Foundations of Applied Mathematics | 5 |
| AM 215 | Stochastic Modeling in Biology | 5 |
| ASTR 260 | Instrumentation for Astronomy | 5 |
| CHEM 122 | Principles of Instrumental Analysis | 5 |
| BIOE 286
/CSP 241
| Experimental Design and Data Analysis | 5 |
| ENVS 215A
/GIST 215A
| Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Applications | 5 |
| ENVS 215L
/GIST 215L
| Exercises in Geographic Information Systems | 2 |
| MATH 106 | Systems of Ordinary Differential Equations | 5 |
| MATH 107 | Partial Differential Equations | 5 |
| OCEA 215 | Predicting the Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate | 5 |
| OCEA 260
/EART 260
| Introductory Data Analysis in the Ocean and Earth Sciences | 5 |
| PHYS 116A | Mathematical Methods in Physics | 5 |
| PHYS 116D | Mathematical Methods in Physics | 5 |
| PHYS 116C | Mathematical Methods in Physics | 5 |
| PHYS 160 | Practical Electronics | 5 |
| PHYS 242 | Computational Physics | 5 |
| STAT 132 | Classical and Bayesian Inference | 5 |
| STAT 206 | Applied Bayesian Statistics | 5 |
| STAT 226 | Spatial Statistics | 5 |
Any math methods course at a level higher than multivariable calculus also counts as an analytical course. Common Applied Math, Math, and Physics choices are included in the above course list.
Planners
Below are 5- and 3-year planners for students in the Bachelor's/Master's program who enter UC Santa Cruz as frosh and as junior transfer students.
Five-Year Planner for Students Entering the Earth Sciences B.S. as Frosh
*Students who wish to complete their capstone with EART 189A and EART 189B should be aware that the following courses are prerequisites: EART 109 and EART 109L, EART 110A, and EART 110B and EART 110M. Students must also complete EART 189B in summer to fulfill the summer field capstone. In addition to the specific courses shown in these planners, a student must complete courses satisfying the CC, ER, IM, SR, and TA general education requirements.
†Students expecting to write a senior thesis for their comprehensive requirement are required to contact the department at least three quarters before graduation to identify the intended project and faculty adviser. Senior theses usually require at least two or three quarters for completion.
†† In consultation with their research adviser and faculty graduate representative, the student will select at least one “subject” course focusing on specific Earth and planetary sciences content and one “analytical” course that builds quantitative analytical skills (from a list in the EPS Graduate Handbook) and also included above.
Three-Year Planner for Students Entering the Earth Sciences B.S. as Junior Transfers
This planner assumes that students have completed all lower-division requirements, other than PHYS 6A and PHYS 6L, PHYS 6B and PHYS 6M, and advanced math/coding.
*Students who wish to complete their capstone with EART 189A and EART 189B should be aware that the following courses are prerequisites: EART 109 and EART 109L, EART 110A, and EART 110B and EART 110M. Students must also complete EART 189B in summer to fulfill the summer field capstone.
†Students expecting to write a senior thesis for their comprehensive requirement are required to contact the department at least three quarters before graduation to identify the intended project and faculty adviser. Senior theses usually require at least two or three quarters for completion.
†† In consultation with their research advisor and faculty graduate representative, the student will select at least one “subject” course focusing on specific Earth and planetary sciences content and one “analytical” course that builds quantitative analytical skills (from a list in the EPS Graduate Handbook) and also included above.