Master of Science in Sustainable Agriculture

The Master’s Program in Sustainable Agriculture at Lincoln University prepares graduates to excel and lead in the rapidly changing agricultural sector. The program equips students with essential skills in production, consultancy, research, and service, addressing contemporary challenges such as fuel efficiency, nutrition retention, sustainable production, and resource conservation. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum, the program integrates animal, plant, and aquaculture production with natural resource management. Ideal for students in agriculture, related sciences, and agribusiness, the program fosters a comprehensive understanding of sustainable practices, enabling graduates to make significant contributions to environmental sustainability and local economies.

Receive career development opportunities, including internships, connections to alumni networks and professional organizations, and graduate assistantships. Graduate students job shadow faculty, support teaching laboratories, acquire skills in chemical instrumentations and quality assurance, operate farm equipment, and engage in scholarly activities such as conference presentations and research articles. Caring faculty help students reach their full potential.

Applicants seeking admission to the Master of Science in Sustainable Agriculture program must meet the following requirements:

• Compliance with all the Lincoln University Office of Graduate Studies eligibility requirements as outlined in the Graduate Bulletin.
• Acceptance to graduate study by the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and the Office of Graduate Studies.
• A baccalaureate degree in agriculture or related sciences from an accredited college, with an undergraduate minimum grade point average of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale.
• A minimum verbal plus quantitative GRE score of 282.
• Three letters of reference.
• Applicants must provide the Office of Graduate Studies with official transcripts of all previous college and/or university studies and official copies of GRE and TOEFL (if applicable) scores. Certified copies of English translations must be included if the transcripts are not in English.

• For international students: A minimum score of 500 (paper test) or 173 (computer test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Students pursuing an MS in Sustainable Agriculture must complete at least 30 graduate credits (24 semester hours of course work and 6 hours of thesis research), not less than 21 of which must be earned at Lincoln University. A master's thesis shall be written and defended under the supervision of a thesis committee.

The following minimum numbers of credits in the indicated areas are required to complete the thesis option:

• 18 credits of Sustainable Agriculture courses,
• 6 credits of courses related to the student's area of focus, and
• 6 credits of AGR 599, Thesis Research

Students seeking an M.S. in Sustainable Agriculture with the non-thesis option must complete at least 33 graduate credits of coursework and a non-thesis research or literature survey-based paper on an agriculture topic. Before commencing work, a student must obtain approval of the topic title from her/his advisor.

The following minimum numbers of credits in the indicated areas are required to complete the non-thesis MS:

• 27 credits of Sustainable Agriculture courses, and
• 6 credits of courses related to the student's area of focus

Core Required Courses (15 Hours Thesis Option; 10 Hours Non-Thesis Option)

Elective Courses (9 Hours Thesis Option; 17 Hours Non-Thesis Option)

Graduate students may also take courses offered in other departments if the courses are relevant to agriculture and the student's professional goals. Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 out of 4.00 in all coursework presented for the degree. Under the guidance of an advisor, graduate students must complete and defend a thesis to complete their studies. Each student's graduate program must include one credit hour of the Graduate Seminar course. Students must present their research proposal to the public in a seminar at the beginning of their studies and the results of their work at the end of their studies to the public.

See the current Graduate Bulletin for program-specific requirements and information.

Graduate Advisors

• Adrian Andrei, Professor of Wildlife Management
• Addissu Ayele, Assistant Professor of Plant Science
• Abua Ikem, Professor of Research/Analytical Chemistry

Graduate Thesis Research Supervisors

• Sougata Bardhan, Assistant Professor of Research/Natural Resources Management
• Jonathan Egilla, Associate Professor of Research/Plant Science
• Frieda Eivazi, Professor of Research/Soil Science
• Jessica Epple-Farmer, Assistant Professor of Research/Animal Science
• Abua Ikem, Professor of Research/Analytical Chemistry
• Dallas Flickinger, Assistant Professor of Research/Aquaculture
• Solomon Geleta, Assistant Professor of Research/Agribusiness
• Tunsisa Hurisso, Assistant Professor of Research/Soil Science
• Safiullah Pathan, Associate Professor of Research/Crop Science
• Ye Su, Associate Professor of Research/Agribusiness 
• Samson Tesfaye, Professor of Research/Geology
• Babu Valliyodan, Assistant Professor of Research/Molecular Biology and Genomics
• James Wetzel, Associate Professor of Research/Aquaculture
• Wesseh Wollo, Professor of Research/Agribusiness
• Tumen Wuliji, Professor of Research/Animal Science
• John Yang, Professor of Research/Soil Chemistry
• Sean Zeiger, Assistant Professor of Research/Forest Hydrology and Watershed Management
• Guolu Zheng, Professor of Research/Microbiology

• Local and regional farming and marketing
• Public health and nutrition
• Technology, e-commerce, and entrepreneurship
• Law and public policy
• Teaching – especially community-based education
• Advocacy and community development
• Agriculture research and climate
• Food services
• Media and marketing