Undergraduate Degrees

Forestry
Two options are available within the Forestry degree: Forest Resources Management and Forest Operations and Applied Restoration. With this degree you may be employed as a professional forester or range manager in a government or private organization including working as a forest planner, timber manager, fire suppression specialist, forest ranger, or as a range or soil conservationist. Other opportunities include working for private industry and becoming a systems analyst, manufacturing technical representative, procurement officer, contract supervisor, nursery manager, or plant supervisor. With your degree, you might become a successful consultant or entrepreneur helping landowners realize their land management objectives. As a professional working for the government, non-profit or private company, you can be involved with satellite imagery, Geographic Information Systems or the writing of environmental impact statements or silvicultural prescriptions.

Resource Conservation
The challenging and rapidly evolving field of environmental conservation requires broad training and the ability to integrate and communicate across disciplines.   Resource Conservation is an interdepartmental undergraduate major that prepares students for the diverse opportunities that now exist in environmental conservation, natural resource management and efforts to build more sustainable livelihoods and communities. Students can choose a more structured area of study to prepare for graduate work in the natural sciences, such as ecology, hydrology, or soils, or emphasize emerging sub-disciplines such as fire ecology and adaptive strategies for climate change. Students can also integrate across disciplines and focus on natural resource policy, wilderness studies, community forestry, or international conservation.

Recreation Management
As a recreation graduate, you can find employment with city, state, or national parks as a park ranger or park naturalist, or with the private sector in recreation, resort, and land management. You may wish to pursue a career as a land use planner, a tourism specialist for state or local government, or become a wilderness ranger. Recreation management graduates commonly work with people and natural resources as planners, managers, environmental education specialists, or researchers and teachers. Those selecting the nature-based tourism option could work with ecotourism providers or start their own business in managing outdoor adventures.

Wildland Restoration
With a degree in Wildland Restoration you can work for an organization, agency, or company, focusing on restoring ecological structure and function to disturbed and degraded habitats. Ecological restoration is one of the most rapidly growing areas of employment in natural resources. This program will provide you with the strong science and management background needed to work in this field. The curriculum is designed to provide the student with the principles and theories of restoration ecology and to provide hands-on experience in planning and implementing restoration projects. The program is also designed to help students meet civil service requirements (required for employment with the federal government) and to prepare for graduate school. Aquatic and terrestrial options are available allowing you to specialize your education in one of these major areas.

Wildlife Biology
With a degree in Wildlife Biology, you can work for an agency or company as a wildlife biologist, studying how human influences will affect wildlife. You might study the effects of forest management on animal behavior to determine how to make changes which would have less impact on wildlife. With a bachelor's degree you may become a game warden or conservation officer working in wildlife law enforcement or conservation education. You may choose to work for one of many conservation organizations to sustain wildlife populations. For example, you might become a bird conservationist and study the migration of eagles. As a fisheries biologist you may inventory trout in a blue ribbon stream. You may even wish to go on to earn a Masters degree to become a specialist in a specific field.

Undergraduate Minors

Wilderness Studies
The Wilderness and Civilization program is designed to provide students, at or beyond the sophomore level, with a broad interdisciplinary introduction to the subject of wilderness, focusing on the multi-faceted values that wild lands hold for civilized society. The intent is to help students become thoughtful, effective participants in public decisions concerning wilderness issues. The program is not intended as a professional land management qualification, although many students supplement their professional education through this program. A special feature is that students develop a sense of community by participating as a group in an intensive package of courses and field experiences. Students who complete the Wilderness and Civilization program become eligible for the wilderness studies minor.

Wildland Restoration
The Wildland Restoration minor is designed for students majoring in fields other than restoration ecology, especially those focusing on natural resources, journalism, the social sciences, and law. It is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of ecology and ecological restoration.

Wildlife Biology
See description for the major above.

Certificates

Certificate in GIS Sciences and Technologies
The Certificate in GIS Sciences and Technologies is designed to provide students with broad exposure to the principles, technologies, and applications of geographic information systems (GIS). Many government and business sector careers require the employee to have a good working knowledge of GIS and related technologies. A student who has earned the Certificate will have a good understanding in general GIS theory and will possess the knowledge and skills to acquire, process, analyze, and properly display geographic data. This program is a complement to an existing major at The University of Montana-Missoula or as a complement to a bachelor’s degree obtained at another university.