What is natural resources management?
Pipelines. Windfarms. Sacred lands. Public recreation. Private Industry. At the core, natural resources management is about using knowledge-based leadership to solve or prevent environmental problems. Environmental challenges are diverse and complex, and require a firm foundation in natural resources science and ecosystem management. You will learn to understand interdependent ecological and sociopolitical systems—the balance between human interests and environmental health. If you feel a connection with the outdoors and are willing to dig deep into a broad base of sciences and disciplines—including social, ethical, and business—you will feel at home in our natural resources management program.
What Will I Learn?
Earn and Learn—Get paid for research work
A degree in natural resources management equips you with the knowledge, expertise, ethics, and perspective to address complex environmental problems that relate to renewable natural resources.
Course Information
Course sequence flowchart
We emphasize professional development, fieldwork, teamwork, leadership, and communication, preparing you to meet contemporary environmental problems and debates—from wetland preservation to forest conservation—head-on. You build strong working relationships with professors and peers that will help you find and focus on your niche, developing the skills and training to solve 21st-century natural resource challenges.
What makes this program different from our other programs:
- It has a social/human dimensions sequence, based in the department of social sciences.
- It has an economics/business component taught by faculty with primary appointments in the Michigan Tech School of Business and Economics.
- It has a unique capstone class and requires biogeochemistry, natural resources ethics and the environment, and a natural resource conservation seminar.
Where do natural resources managers find jobs?
Your BS in natural resources management applies to environmental law, public policy, land use, conservation, and forestry careers in the private sector, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations. You could work as a conservation scientist, or pursue graduate studies that take your area of research interest to a higher level. Some students pursue a natural resources management degree to enhance their qualifications in the job market, or for specialized focus in law or business school.