The Environment and Natural Resources Graduate Program
A Community Of Scholars. The ENR Graduate Program is the academic home for faculty and graduate students who share a common interest in improving our understanding of the environment, our natural resources, and our ability to protect and manage them. They are engaged in research, education, and learning in a variety of areas in the natural and social sciences. This diverse and interdisciplinary group is unified by a commitment to intellectual rigor and a common definition and standard for scholarship. Scholarship involves developing an understanding of what is known and not known about a subject, proposing new ideas about that subject, studying those ideas by using appropriate scientific methods, drawing conclusions about the findings from those studies, and communicating those conclusions in critically reviewed publications. The goal of this scholarly effort is to expand the body of knowledge in a given field. The Master of Science degree prepares students to pursue advanced knowledge in environment and natural resources and perform scholarly research in their chosen field. A Master of Science degree in Environment and Natural Resources offers flexibility and diversity in meeting students’ educational, research and career objectives. While the creative idea for investigation may originate with the student’s advisor, the student must demonstrate that he/she has made a rigorous attempt to become familiar with literature relevant to the research topic, identify questions that can realistically be pursued as a thesis, design and carry out studies or experiments to address those questions, analyze the results, and incorporate those results into a coherent Master’s Thesis. Alumni enter careers in environmental science, resource science, policy and management, administration, research, or education and many continue graduate studies at the doctoral level. Students in the Doctor of Philosophy program conduct independent, innovative and scholarly research within the field of environment and natural resources. Students are expected to make an original contribution to the body of knowledge. They formulate research questions that probe the limits of what is known, identify the major issues involved, and develop a thorough understanding of the relevant theory bases and methodologies, demonstrate creativity in research design, use critical rigor to analyze and discuss their findings, and disseminate their research. Students are encouraged to devote a portion of their studies to a Graduate Minor or an Interdisciplinary Specialization to enhance their research within ENR. Alumni pursue careers as leaders in academia, industry, government, policy development, or research innovation.
For more information, contact Graduate Program Office
Updated 2008-11-04 |