Forestry & Environmental Studies

required Course

All Ph.D. students are required to take the following course in the fall term of their first year. For a complete list of F&ES courses, see the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies bulletin, available online at and Yale Course Search at

F&ES 900a, Doctoral Student Seminar and Responsible Conduct of Research  Karen Seto

This course provides an introduction to doctoral study at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Students attend the F&ES Wednesday seminar each week and then meet with the seminar speakers after their presentations. Weekly assigned readings support these discussions, which are used as a foundation to explore diverse approaches to formulating and addressing research questions. Students also work with their advisers to design an assignment to be completed during the term. Students may choose to write and submit a fellowship application (e.g., NSF, NASA, EPA), carry out a literature review, or develop a collaborative research project. Students present their embryonic research ideas in class and use feedback from the group to further develop their ideas. The course also introduces the topic of research misconduct with examples of specific cases. Concepts and resources for responsible conduct of research are discussed in the areas of data acquisition and management, authorship and publication, peer review, conflicts of interest, mentoring, collaborative research, and animal and human subjects research. Required of all doctoral students in their first term.
W 1pm-3pm