University of Wisconsin-River Falls
A to Z | Calendar | Search UWRF
UWRF Home
Academic Plans

Conservation . . .

is the scientific management of our natural resources: water, soil, air, wildlife, and forests. Scientific management has evolved from the idea that people and the environment have requirements for their continued existence. The field of conservation is directed at understanding our environment and applying and advancing management techniques to maintain sustainable communities for all life on Earth.

Department of Plant and Earth Science
324 Agriculture Science Hall
(715) 425-3345

Undergraduate Catalog

Our Goal

To provide students with the necessary foundation to pursue either a more general or a more specialized career opportunity in the area of conservation. This is accomplished through our curriculum which provides a core of essential courses, fundamental for anyone in the conservation area, along with electives that allow for as broad or as specific a conservation focus as the student desires. The academic program includes lectures, hands-on laboratories, field projects, and a required internship to provide the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience for beginning a career in conservation or to pursue an advanced degree.

Why major in Conservation?

Students major in Conservation for a variety of reasons:

  1. They want to work outdoors.
  2. They want to contribute to maintaining a quality environment for our generation and those to follow.
  3. They like the broad based curriculum that gives them a large degree of flexibility to specialize in a particular area of conservation that interests them.
  4. They have a long-time interest in a particular area of conservation that they want to pursue as a professional career.
  5. They want to acquire the interdisciplinary training needed for many conservation careers or for graduate school.

What Do Conservationists Do?

Conservation is concerned with the management of Earth’s natural resources for sustained utilization, and since these resources are varied and complex, students interested in the field of conservation have many opportunities for developing their professional careers. Students can take a broad academic approach and pursue careers in the more holistic types of occupations such as a county conservationist, interpretive naturalist for a private or public nature center, or as a conservation warden enforcing environmental regulations. Another approach would be to specialize in a specific area of conservation, which would enable the student to develop careers in areas such as soil conservation, watershed management, wildlife or fisheries management, forestry, solid waste management, ecosystem restoration, or park management. The field of conservation provides many opportunities for students to develop careers that will match their particular interests and abilities.

Faculty

The environmental science and management unit within the plant and earth science department is home to the conservation major. There are five full-time faculty who form the instructional and student advising core for the major. Since conservation is such a diverse discipline, numerous faculty from other departments and units provide support courses for the major.

Bachelor of Science Degree. Conservation. Academic Advising Plan.

Semester 1 (Fall)

ENGL 100 Academic Reading and Writing ~ 3
ESM 105 Intro to Environmental Studies ~ 3
ESM 151 Land Use Theory and Practice ~ 3
MATH 146 College Algebra ~ 3
General Education Goal II Selection ~ 3
Total semester credits ~ 15

Semester 5 (Fall)

ESM 343 Woodlot Management ~ 3
ESM 360 Applied Hydrology and Water Quality ~ 4
P ED 108 Health and Fitness for Life ~ 1
Directed Elective Course ~ 3
General Education Goal II Selection ~ 3
Physical Education Activities ~ .5
Total semester credits ~ 14.5

Semester 2 (Spring)

BIOL 150 General Biology ~ 3
ENGL 200 Investigating Ideas: Reading, Writing, and the Disciplines ~ 3
ESM 220 Environmental Sustainability ~ 3
GEOL 101 Introduction to Geology ~ 3
General Education Goal II Selection ~ 3
Total semester credits ~ 15

Semester 6 (Spring)

ESM 333 Remote Sensing ~ 3
ESM 363 Geographic Information Systems ~ 3
Directed Elective Course ~ 3
General Elective Course ~ 3
American Cultural Diversity Course ~ 3
Total semester credits ~ 15

Semester 3 (Fall)

BIOL 210 or 230 Botany or Zoology ~ 3
CHEM 121 General Chemistry I ~ 5
ESM 109 Intro to Forestry ~ 2
ESM 303 Environmental Policies and Administration ~ 3
CSTA 101 Fundamentals of Oral Communication
or CSTA 116 Business and Professional Communcation ~ 3
Total semester credits ~ 16

Semester 7 (Fall)

BIOL 344 Wildlife Biology ~ 4
SOIL 440 Soil and Water Conservation ~ 4
Directed Elective Course ~ 3
Physical Education Activities ~ .5
General Elective Course ~ 3
Total semester credits ~ 14.5

Semester 4 (Spring)

AGEC 230 Agricultural Economics I
or ECON 201 Principles of Microeconomics ~ 3
BIOL 360 Ecology ~ 3
GEOG 250 Introduction to Cartography and Geographic Information Systems ~ 3
SOIL 210 Introduction to Soil Science ~ 3
General Education Goal II Selection ~ 3
Total semester credits ~ 15

 

Semester 8 (Spring)

AGEC 450 Introduction to Natural Resource Economics ~ 3
ENGL 266 Business Writing
or ENGL 367 Technical Writing ~ 3
ESM 485 Seminar in Natural Resources ~ 1
Directed elective courses ~ 1-3
General Education Goal IV Selection ~ 3
Total semester credits ~ 11-13

ESM 270 Internship I ~ 2-4
Usually taken by the student during the summer after the
freshman, sophomore, or junior year.

 

Summary of Degree Requirements

University Requirements ~ 3 cr.
General Education ~ 40 cr.
Conservation Core ~ 47-49 cr.
Required Supporting Courses ~ 12 cr.
Directed Electives ~ 10-12 cr.
General Electives ~ 6 cr.
Credits to Degree ~ 120 cr.

This academic plan is an example of how students might choose to fulfill program requirements within a period of four years. After consulting with their advisers, students may make other course choices which would meet the program requirements and be more suitable for them.

Other possible plans could be developed for different general education course selections, for when courses are taken in
a different order, or depending on whether 2, 3 or 4 credits are taken for ESM 270.

PDF version

Updated December 2005

 

University of Wisconsin - River Falls
410 South Third Street River Falls, WI USA 54022-5001 (715)425-3911
Copyright © 1995-2008 University of Wisconsin-River Falls