Natural Resource Conservation & Management

Program Codes: NRCM
Bachelor of Science

The Natural Resource Conservation and Management program (NRCM) prepares students for the challenges ahead with an approach based on a blend of the natural and environmental sciences, technical training in natural resource managementrelated subject, and a solid foundation in the liberal arts. Included in this blend are numerous opportunities to take highly experiential courses that will have students out in the forests, on the lakes or in the wetlands that surround the campus. Graduates of this program are well prepared for positions with local, state and federal agencies involved in natural resource management or environmental consulting firms and non-profit environmental organizations. This degree provides many different career choices, including the ability to plan for a Conservation Officer career.

At the end of the program students will be able to:

  • Explain the historical role and value of science in policy formation designed to protect, maintain, and restore natural and human altered environments.
  • Articulate the differences between inductive and deductive methods of scientific inquiry as each pertain to gaining reliable knowledge.
  • Teach students to articulate complex scientific and social issues into a language which is useful and meaningful to the general public.
  • Explain the implications of the relationship of cumulative environmental impacts on the resilience of ecosystems, biomes and the biosphere.
  • Apply basic principles of sustainability to problem solving across political boundaries.
  • Delineate the management environment in ecological, economic, political, and socio-cultural terms.
  • Define the cyclic management process as related to an organization's mission statement, strategic planning, assessment, implementation, and evaluation/monitoring program.
  • Articulate the appropriateness of sustainable management models or approaches used to address resource management issues.
  • Demonstrate basic knowledge of management and communication needed to work effectively with stakeholders in integrated natural resource management teams.
  • Articulate the role of the political process in affecting change in policy and regulations at local, state, national and international scales.
  • Develop evaluation and monitoring techniques which facilitate social and economic tenets in the management process.
  • Identify opportunities for collaboration and public participation around resource-based issues and define steps to create and maintain effective collaborations under a range of social-economic conditions.
  • Apply adaptive management approaches to increase the capacity of human communities to change with economic conditions while maintaining ecological integrity.

Degree Requirements:

Minimum 120 total credits, 45 upper division credits and 60 Liberal Arts and Science credits to complete the degree.

Contact the Department Chairperson

Semester 1

3
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3-4
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Semester 2

3
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3
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3-4
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Semester 3

3-4
Click here to see elective courses.
__ __
ELECTIVE
3-4

Select any course.

Semester 4

3
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__ __
ELECTIVE
3-4

Select any course.

Semester 5

3
Click here to see elective courses.
3
Click here to see elective courses.
__ __
ELECTIVE
3-4

Select any course.

Semester 6

3
Click here to see elective courses.
__ __
ELECTIVE - UD
3-4

Select any Upper Division (300 or 400 level) course.

__ __
ELECTIVE
3-4

Select any course.

Semester 7

3
Click here to see elective courses.
3
Click here to see elective courses.
__ __
ELECTIVE - UD
3-4

Select any Upper Division (300 or 400 level) course.

__ __
ELECTIVE - UD
3-4

Select any Upper Division (300 or 400 level) course.

Semester 8

3
Click here to see elective courses.
__ __
ELECTIVE - UD
3-4

Select any Upper Division (300 or 400 level) course.

__ __
ELECTIVE - UD
3-4

Select any Upper Division (300 or 400 level) course.

Total Credits 120

Contact Information

Environment & Society

Dr. Karen Edwards

Pickett Hall 107

518-327-6387

kedwards@paulsmiths.edu


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