Natural Resources Graduate Programs

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The Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources (FER) offers an intercollegiate Natural Resources Masters program that focuses on many different aspects of relevant policy, management and assessment areas. Students customize their degree concentration by choosing a technical option, then combine core courses in natural resources issues and management with a series of related courses in technical disciplines.

The purpose of the Natural Resources graduate core curriculum is to educate professionals at an advanced level to be well-versed in policy and regulation while also perfecting their quantitative assessment skills. Many positions in federal and state agencies, private companies, and environmental organizations require individuals with expertise in a technical area coupled with a broad knowledge of policy and management.

The technical options are designed to enhance each student's understanding of the processes within an individual option. Courses within the various options are taught in several different departments and provide a broad background with rigorous technical emphases.

Enrollment in a Natural Resources Masters program generally requires a natural resources-related undergraduate degree. For students who do not have a natural resources background, additional courses may be required depending on the option and the student's area of interest.

Degree Options

Graduates students in Natural Resources may choose to pursue a Master of Science in Natural Resources (MS-NR) or a non-thesis Master of Natural Resources.

In general, the MS-NR degree requires that a student develop and conduct a research project, then present their methodologies and results of the test or experiment as a thesis. The MS degree is the preferred track for students who are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. or who anticipate conducting or reviewing research in their future work.

Graduate students in an MNR (non-thesis) program are required to conduct a project and present a report on the work accomplished. These students generally take up to 3 credits in supervised project work and an additional 15 to 18 credit hours in courses from their chosen option. Projects generally bear a direct relevance to the student's option.

A limited number of 400 level courses from other departments may count toward the degree requirements of each program. Please note that courses listed within technical option areas may have prerequisites that will be required in addition to core and technical option courses. Course substitutions must be approved by the student's advisory committee.

Core Curriculum

Both graduate degree programs in Natural Resources feature a core curriculum consisting of 10-11 credit hours, including a seminar. The required courses are:

NR 500: Natural Resources Management — 3 credit hours;
NR 571: Current Issues in Natural Resources — 3 credit hours;
A graduate level statistics course — 3 credit hours;
One graduate seminar — 1 credit hour;
FOR 603: Research Methods - 1 credit hour (for students in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources only)

Technical Options

Both degree programs in Natural Resources require graduate students to choose a technical option, then present the results of their thesis or project in that option to the department at large. All full-time graduate students in Natural Resources are encouraged to attend all departmental seminars during each semester they are enrolled in the program. Students will earn one credit during the semester in which they present a seminar on their Master's project or thesis.

The following Natural Resources technical options are available to graduate students in the MS-NR and MNR degree programs in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources:

Additonal technical options in Landscape Architecture, Soil Science and Outdoor Recreation are described here.

Research Facilities

Natural Resources graduate students benefit from FER’s nearly 100,000 acres of forest land available for fieldwork, as well as our mountain and coastal research and field facilities and our partnerships with a variety of North Carolina public agencies. Grad students often pursue their thesis or professional projects by participating in one of FER’s many on-going research initiatives, industry partnerships or extension programs.

For more information on the resources open to graduate students in Natural Resources, please visit the following interest area sections of our website:

Requirements

Application for admission to a Masters program in Natural Resources is made through the Forestry and Environmental Resources Department. Minimum requirements include an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 in an appropriate discipline and a graduate record examination score of 1000, calculated as the sum of verbal and quantitative scores. Admission is contingent upon acceptance by an advisor. Exceptions to minimum requirements may be made for students with special backgrounds.

Once you are accepted, you must satisfy certain requirements in order to obtain an advanced degree. These are outlined in our Grad Student Requirements section.

How to Apply

For instructions on how you can apply to the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at NC State, please review our How To Apply section.