The Department of Natural Resource Sciences is well-positioned to serve the educational needs of students with an interest in a wide variety of natural resource and environmental fields, issues and career aspirations.  Students with strong interests in areas such as:

• Forest resources and sustainable management of forest ecosystems for a broad range of social, economic, and ecological values;
• Wildlife biology, ecology, and management;
• Wildlife biology - Pre-Vet School option;
• Ecology of natural ecosystems;
• Biological diversity and conservation biology;
• Ecological restoration;
• Watershed and aquatic ecosystem management and improvement; and
• Social dimensions of natural resources, including policy, pre-law and pre-law enforcement are strongly encouraged to further explore the educational opportunities provided by our Department.

We are a moderate-sized department with 20 permanent faculty, 17 of whom are stationed on the Pullman campus. Of these faculty, 15 currently contribute to our undergraduate and graduate teaching programs. Over the past 5 years the Department's student body has varied from about 130 to 180 undergraduate students and 20 to 30 graduate students each year, which creates very desirable student to faculty ratios.   Therefore, we are able to emphasize high quality, individualized student advising and career mentoring. 

Our programs also emphasize field and other forms of experiential learning; and provision of opportunities for student professional growth (including several professionally-oriented student clubs/organizations). Laboratory and several field teaching/research facilities of the department (such as the Bear Conservation Facility, E.H. Steffen Center, Small Mammal Research Facility, and Colockum Multiple Use Unit described elsewhere in this website) also provide students invaluable opportunities for hands-on, experiential learning.

WSU's close proximity to the University of Idaho (8 miles to the east) has created exceptional opportunities for close cooperation in teaching between the Department of Natural Resources at WSU and the College of Natural Resources at UI.  A large number of natural resource courses are currently cross-listed to the benefit of students at both institutions. For natural resource science students at WSU, this cooperation results in expanded access to additional courses and faculty in such fields as forestry, wildlife, and related specialty areas (e.g., Conservation Biology; Landscape & Restoration Ecology) that provides significant opportunities for educational enrichment. This environment of inter-university educational cooperation is quite unique among major university natural resource programs.

Because all disciplinary fields relevant to natural resource sciences (wildlife, forestry, and related ecological and social science subject areas) are integrated at the department level at WSU, we are well positioned to provide students with a diverse, interdisciplinary education in natural resources that is essential to understanding and managing natural ecosystems. Such disciplinary integration lays at the core of our educational philosophy at WSU.
 

The Department believes in ongoing evolution of its undergraduate curricula to keep current with changing student and professional needs as we begin a new millennium. As a result of curricular revision in 2004, the Department offers an expanded array of educational opportunities to baccalaureate students that well-exemplifies the diversity of career opportunities in natural resource sciences. The Department offers a single undergraduate degree (B.S. in Natural Resource Sciences), under which students may select and pursue one or more majors (Forestry, Wildlife Ecology, and Natural Resources). Each major then provides opportunities for further specialization via specific Options. The structure of our undergraduate curriculum is summarized below.
 

Under the above curricula and irrespective of Major/Option, all students pursuing the B.S. in Natural Resource Sciences will take a common array of foundational courses in biological, physical and social sciences, mathematics, communications and arts/humanities.  They also will take a common core of natural resource science courses designed to provide both breadth and integration among natural resource disciplines. Thereafter, greater and more specific educational depth is provided by required upper-division coursework within each Major and Option. The structure of the curricula are such that it is very feasible (with some additional time) to pursue either dual natural resource majors or a Major in one and Minor in another natural resource field. The Forestry Major is fully accredited by the Society of American Foresters.

Additional detail on the above undergraduate curricula may be found in the Bachelor Degrees section of this website.
 
 

The Department of Natural Resource Sciences offers a wide range of graduate educational opportunities designed to meet the following broad goals:

• To couple an atmosphere of scholarship with research and educational opportunities that will produce people capable of responding to the complex issues of understanding, management, use and protection of natural resources,
• To foster the pursuit of research in the natural resource sciences that will lead to better understanding of the ecological, social and economic relationships inherent to natural resource issues, and
• To produce scientists/practicing professionals better prepared to assume leadership roles in educational, research, management and/or other careers related to natural resources and the environment.

• The M.S. in Natural Resource Sciences, which is a thesis-based degree emphasizing the conduct of original research by the student.
• The M.S. in Natural Resources, which is a non-thesis, more coursework-intensive degree with options in forestry, wildlife, and related areas of emphasis, such as conservation biology and landscape and restoration ecology.

At the doctoral level, the Department collaborates with the WSU Program in Environmental Science and Regional Planning to offer the joint, interdepartmental Ph.D. in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences. This degree requires original research leading to a dissertation, and coursework supporting desired competences in five areas of advanced knowledge: 1) ecosystems, 2) research methods, 3) issues and ethics, 4) interdisciplinary cognizance, and 5) subject area of doctoral research. This doctoral degree is designed to offer students the opportunity to attain an important, interdisciplinary terminal degree that integrates among the various science fields related to environment and natural resources. Graduates will be particularly well-prepared to assume important roles in academia, other research organizations, or advanced work in natural resource ecology and environmental management.

For all of the above graduate degrees, students may pursue individualized programs with specific educational/subject matter focus in a wide array of physical, biological, ecological, managerial and social science fields. Students are not required to have a prior degree in a natural resource field to be considered for admission. The Graduate Degrees section of this website should be consulted for further, more detailed information on these opportunities for advanced education.