George H. Cook Scholars Program

The George H. Cook Scholars Program is the senior honors thesis program of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Working under the mentorship of an approved advisor, students in the program conduct original basic and applied research in the natural and health sciences, economics, and public policy majors. They design or evaluate environmental infrastructure or they produce original works in other areas of scholarship. Projects are planned and initiated by at least the end of the second semester of the junior year, and students present their results in a written thesis and orally at a program-wide symposium in the second semester of the senior year. Project advisors are typically members of the Rutgers faculty, but may also include academics and appropriate professionals from other institutions.

To be eligible, students must have achieved a cumulative grade-point average to be in the top 15 percent of their class in the fall of their junior year, and completed a minimum of 24 credits at Rutgers by the end of their junior year. Students with a GPA greater than 3.0 can be recommended to the Honors Committee by a faculty member of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Students must indicate their interest in the program by submitting a pre-registration form during spring of the junior year and must enroll in 11:554:487, 488 GHC Honors Program for a total of 6 to 12 credits during their senior year.

 Students submit written project proposals for approval by the Honors Committee at the end of the junior year followed by a brief oral proposal describing project goals at the beginning of their senior year.

Students who successfully complete the two-semester honors course (11:554:487, 488) prepare a thesis, present their work at the program-wide symposium, and are designated as George H. Cook Scholars at graduation.