2024-2025 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog
Natural Resources and Environmental Management
For additional information about opportunities your college offers, please refer to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section in this catalog.
Website: gvsu.edu/biology/nrm
Degree Offered
Bachelor of Science in natural resources and environmental management
As more users place demands on scarce environmental resources, the need for conservation and sustainability of our renewable natural assets is greater than ever. Natural resources and environmental management (NRM) students gain applied skills and knowledge of environmental stewardship through hands-on, experiential learning in indoor and outdoor field-based classes. NRM graduates are prepared to care for the land and water-based ecosystems of Michigan and beyond, and to serve the people whose well-being depends on these resources.
Ecology is the foundational science of the NRM program. Students learn to combine ecological knowledge with quantitative methods, economics, and policy, and address local and global natural resource-related situations. In the interdisciplinary NRM courses, students examine sources of conflict leading to environmental degradation and learn methods of sustainable resource management. Students have opportunities to develop expertise in ecosystem restoration, soil and water conservation, watershed management, recreation management, forest management, wildlife management, environmental economics and policy, conservation biology, fisheries, and applications in geographic information systems. NRM graduates pursue careers with conservation agencies and organizations including local, state, and federal government, education and advocacy organizations, environmental consulting firms, and nonprofit organizations.
Mission
The natural resources management program provides a broad-based natural resources management education in a liberal arts curriculum and serves the public interest through the scientific analysis of natural resources.
Related Programs
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Biology
As a science, biology offers the opportunity to study and experiment with animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria in the laboratory and in the field. The biology major is designed to help students gain a comprehensive understanding of the biological sciences, while also specializing in a degree emphasis related to career interests in areas such as veterinary and human medicine, aquatic sciences, wildlife ecology, population genetics, animal behavior, evolutionary biology, genetic counseling, plant biology, microbiology, and sustainable agriculture.
For more information, visit gvsu.edu/biology.
Grand Valley State University's Master of Science degree in biology is designed to allow students the opportunity to study at a graduate level in broad areas such as genetics and cell biology, organismal biology, aquatic and terrestrial ecology, and natural resources.
For more information, visit gvsu.edu/grad/biology.
Program Requirements
The following programs are available: