Natural Resources Management Pathway

Creating Sustainable Spaces.
Are you interested in the natural environment? Do you want a career focused on the outdoors? The Natural Resources Management Pathway provides a hands-on learning experience in sustainable management of the natural environment.
Pathway Information
Graduates can pursue careers as natural resources managers, conservation scientists, environmental consultants/scientists, watershed/wetland scientists, soil & water conservationist, park rangers, land reclamation inspectors, and many other related fields or pursue graduate studies.
Undergraduate students can tailor their degree with coursework in:
- Wildlife & Fisheries Ecology
- Air, Water, & Land
- Human Dimensions
IDS MAJORS
All IDS majors complete an XIDS course sequence through which they learn interdisciplinary concepts and method, culminating with a capstone project that reflects their intellectual and career interests:
Foundation Courses
Required Foundation Courses (30 credits): Can complete these in the Core Curriculum.
- BIOL 1107/1107L - Principles of Biology I
- BIOL 1108/1108L - Principles of Biology II
- CHEM 1211/1211L - Principles of Chemistry I
- CHEM 1212/1212L - Principles of Chemistry II
- GEOG 2553 - Intro to GIS & Mapping
- GEOL 1121/1121L - Physical Geology
- MATH 1113 - Precalculus
- POLS 1101 - American Government
- Strongly recommended: ECON 2106 - Princ. of Microeconomics, COMM 1110 - Oral Communications, and MATH 1401 - Statistics
Upper-Level Courses
Required Upper Level Area Courses (7-8 credits):
- BIOL 3135 - Ecology
Methods & Communication, at least 1 course from the following:
- COMM 3330 - Advanced Communication Skills
- ENGL 3405 - Professional & Technical Writing
- GEOG 3563 - Remote Sensing & GIS Integration
- GEOG 4553 - Geographic Information Systems
- GEOG 4554 - Computer Cartography
- GEOG 4562 - Airphoto Interpretation & Photogrammetry
- GEOG 4753 - Contemporary GIS Applications
- SOCI 4003 - Applied Statistics for Social Sciences
Upper-Level Area Courses.
Students will choose 2 of the 3 content disciplines as their main subjects: 1) Wildlife & Fisheries Ecology, 2) Air, Water, & Land, and 3) Human Dimensions. Within each of these two disciplines, they must take: 1) a minimum of 9 credit hours across 3 courses, and 2) at least 1 course must have a natural resources management focus (bolded red below). From the remaining discipline, they must take at least one course. Special topics courses may qualify if approved by the advisory committee.
Total minimum credit hours: 21
Wildlife & Fisheries Ecology
- BIOL 4424 Wildlife Habitat Ecology
- BIOL 4425 Fire Ecology
- BIOL 4427 Conservation Biology
- BIOL 4430 Wildlife Techniques
- BIOL 3221 Taxonomy of Flowering Plants & Ferns
- BIOL 3223 Vascular Plants
- BIOL 3226 Natural History of Vertebrates
- BIOL 3231 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
- BIOL 4241 Entomology
- BIOL 4242 Invertebrate Zoology
- BIOL 4245 Ichthyology
- BIOL 4266 Molecular Ecology
- BIOL 4441 Animal Behavior
- BIOL 4445 Marine Biology
- BIOL 4440 Aquatic Ecology
- BIOL 4450 Terrestrial Ecology
- BIOL 4735 Parasitology
Air, Water, & Land
- GEOG 4103 Soil Science
- GEOG 4600 Applied Climatology
- GEOL 3603 Environmental Geology
- GEOL 4083 Environmental Geochemistry
- GEOL 4093 Risk Assessment
- GEOG 3713 Meteorology
- GEOG 3800 Biogeography
- GEOG 3900 Ecological Climatology
- GEOG 4900 Dendrochronology
- GEOL 3004 Field Geol. & Geologic Mapping
- GEOL 3014 Mineralogy & Crystallography
- GEOL 4003 Geomorphology
- GEOL 4014 Geochemistry
- GEOL 4034 Sedimentation & Stratigraphy
- GEOL 4074 Regional Applications of Field Geology
- GEOL 4084 Hydrogeology
Human Dimensions
- ANTH 3180 Environment & Health
- ANTH 4134 Animals & Culture
- ANTH 4181 Cultural Resources Management
- CRIM 4300 Environmental Crimes
- ECON 3480 Environmental & Natural Resource Economics
- GEOG 3405 Geographies of Sustainability
- POLS 4209 Environmental Policy
- GEOG 3253 Economic Geography
- GEOG 3643 Urban Geography
- POLS 3201 Intro Public Policy
- POLS 3210 Interest Group Politics
- POLS 4210 Public Management
Careers
Careers
Where can you go with this degree?
- Conservation biologist
- Environmental scientist
- Environmental educator
- Fire ecologist
- Land reclamation inspector
- Natural resources manager
- Park ranger
- Soil & water conservationist
- Watershed scientist
- Wetland ecologist
Spotlight
The pathway can be effectively combined with Minors in fields such as
- Biology
- Geography
- Geology
- Political Science
Certificates available are
- Stream Restoration
- Atmospheric Science
- Wildlife Ecology
Contact
Contact Us
Dr. Andy Walter
Director, Center of Interdisciplinary Studies
(678) 839-4070
awalter@westga.edu