Career Opportunities
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An undergraduate degree from the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources (FER) can prepare you for a career in any number of public, private or non-profit areas. Plus, NC State's emphasis on combining classroom instruction with on-the-job experience means you will graduate with practical knowledge in your field, a very good idea of what it's like to work within it — and a strong understanding of both the challenges you will face and the tools you can call on to address them.
The careers open to you when you obtain an undergraduate degree from FER depend on the degree you decide to pursue:
Ecosystem Assessment is an environmental specialty field based on the science of measuring and monitoring natural resources. Program graduates typically go to work for public and private organizations involved in environmental regulation and management, education and recreation, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, various environmental regulatory programs of state and local governments, non-profit organizations, and private environmental consulting firms who need entry-level professionals with broad skills in the field of environmental assessment. While this degree opens the door to a field career on the frontline of environmental protection, measuring and monitoring the health of ecosystems, it is also a good base for a career in management, policy or environmental law.
Natural Resources Policy and Administration teaches students how to manage natural resources programs within a variety of settings, with an emphasis on serving public agencies. Students learn both science and policy, equipping them for careers in the management, administration, policy-making, preservation or regulation of natural resources. Graduates are qualified for entry-level jobs at such organizations as the USDI National Park Service, Environmental Protection Agency, US Geological Survey, state and local government agencies plus many non-profit environmental organizations and consulting firms. The program’s broad scope also provides a strong base for students who wish to pursue a graduate program in the natural resources economics and policy arena.
Environmental Technology is a science-based field that teaches students the sciences behind the biological and chemical mechanisms of environmental processes, environmental policy and proficiency in hazardous materials management. Because virtually every industry, community and municipality in the country is subject to environmental regulation, graduates typically have a number of employment opportunities available to them. They might obtain jobs with an environmental consulting firm; county, state or federal agency; university or government research office; environmental analytical laboratory; or with an industrial company as an environmental scientist.
Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences provides a grounding in science while emphasizing ecological principles and their application to natural resource management as it affects fish or wildlife populations. Graduates leave NC State ready to obtain their certification from The Wildlife Society or the American Fisheries Society and qualified for graduate school or entry-level professional positions analyzing and managing fishery or wildlife populations for universities, private industry or state and federal agencies.
Forest Management provides a working knowledge of a variety of disciplines related to forestry and natural resource management and combines extensive coursework with fieldwork opportunities and participation in cutting-edge research. This experience equips graduates to work for companies operating in forest and wood-related industries, state and federal land-managing agencies, environmental consulting firms, non-profit organizations, state forestry and agriculture extension services, nurseries and landscape management firms, urban natural resource management agencies and more. Graduates might become public foresters and manage public lands for multiple uses, advise private landowners or protect forests from fire and disease. Or they might choose to work in industry, managing company lands for timber production, making timber purchases from private owners or producing such products as paper, lumber and plywood. Many program graduates also choose to go on to graduate school in order to specialize in a wide variety of forestry and related programs.
Watershed Hydrology students study the behavior of water within the context of natural landscape units as well as the effects of human activities on water. The program qualifies students to serve as hydrologists in such federal and state agencies as the US Geological Survey, US Forest Service, US Army Corps of Engineers, USDA Soil Conservation and state water resources or environmental management agencies and divisions. Within the private sector, potential employers include environmental consulting firms, non-profit environmental organizations and companies that own and manage large areas of forested, agricultural or urbanized land. The rigorous scientific and quantitative background of this program is also excellent preparation for graduate study in water resources.
