Applied Ecology and Environmental Science Bachelor's Degree

Protect and improve our world's natural resources with other stewards just like you. Be what tomorrow needs with a Bachelor of Science in applied ecology and environmental science at Michigan Tech.

There's no better place to study natural resources than the wild Keweenaw Peninsula, bordered by Lake Superior and blanketed with forests and wetlands (and 218+ inches of snow each winter). First-year students have two outdoor field labs and are all eligible to be paid as Earn and Learn students—an experience that gets you involved in research right away, so you can acquire the hands-on knowledge and skills to land a summer job or internship after your first year. Other schools own forests—but our students explore 3,650 acres of woodland right outside the back door at the Ford Center and Forest. In your junior year, you'll spend 14 weeks learning in these woods, covering the elements of forested landscapes in a blend of classroom and field study through our Integrated Field Practicum.

Our graduates spend hundreds of hands-on learning hours in the field, building knowledge and skills on-site for projects ranging from classroom labs to research. This firsthand experience puts our students a step above the rest when it comes to working for government agencies, nonprofits, consulting firms, and others.

What Will I Study?

If you love the outdoors and are interested in studying ecological systems and how land-use management decisions are made to improve natural resources, you will feel at home in our applied ecology and environmental science program—home to endless opportunities for research.

Fieldwork, teamwork, leadership, and professional development prepare you to model, analyze, compare, communicate, and deploy tools and techniques used to understand biodiversity, human effects on soils, hydrological development, and climate change.

• Explore, measure, document, and analyze the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the Keweenaw Peninsula. With 5,000 University-owned acres blanketed with forest and wetlands, our backyard is an ideal living lab.
• Make land-use decisions to enhance ecosystem composition, structure, and function.
• Collaborate with leading scientists to solve ecological and environmental problems.
• Learn how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and be proficient in GPS, land measurement, and remote sensing skills.
• Explore undergraduate research opportunities.
• Build your resume and finish your first year of classes qualified to find a summer job in your field.
• Network with forestry professionals visiting the Natural Resource Career Fair, or, in the classroom, connect with faculty leaders in the Society of American Foresters.

Focus Your Degree

We offer three specialization options to choose from:

Plant and Wetland Ecology

Study interactions between living organisms and their environment to understand ecosystem dynamics and the health of aquatic and terrestrial systems. Analyze nutrient levels and work to restore habitats with native species, helping to protect wildlife and address broader climate change challenges.

Communicating Natural Resources

The ability to both effectively manage ecosystems and communicate ecological information helps maintain the balance between human activities and the natural environment. This understanding supports sustainable forest management, informs landowners and the public, and drives advocacy and policy changes to mitigate climate crisis impacts.

Biotechnology

Utilize and advance technologies to monitor and manage the environment by generating energy from organic waste, removing pollutants, and developing sustainable resource harvesting methods. Explore genetics and biological controls to address species conservation, evolutionary relationships, and invasive species, while applying natural patterns to create future solutions.

Be Career Ready

As humans continue to depend on ecosystems' ability to provide multiple kinds of value, tomorrow’s ecologists will need to understand how to manage our lands in an era of climate change and sustainability.

The College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science hosts its own Natural Resource Career Fair. Each year, around 20 companies from across the US travel to Michigan Tech in late fall to educate and recruit employees.

Our applied ecology and environmental science graduates go on to work at government agencies, nonprofits, and even create their own consulting companies.

What is Applied Ecology and Environmental Science?

Environmental science is the study of ecological systems and how they interact with each other. Ecology, a key component of environmental science, focuses on the relationships between organisms and their environment. Applied ecology is the application of environmental science to real-world problems.

Applied ecology and environmental science is about understanding, analyzing, communicating and managing ecosystems in a scientific and sustainable way to benefit the coexisting relationships that humans have with the natural environment. Investigate vegetation, soil, and amphibians in the vernal pools of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Analyze glacial retreat in Peru or post-fire plant communities in the Alaskan Interior. Survey grazed land in northern Patagonia. Your studies take you to the places where ecological, social, and biotechnological aspects of natural resources combine, from stream restoration, to invasive species mitigation, to the properties of soil. Applied ecology and environmental science is about managing ecosystems for tomorrow.