Graduate Opportunities in Ecosystem Management
Ecosystem management focuses on ways to maintain and restore ecological integrity while guiding appropriate human uses of natural systems. Hence, it requires an understanding of natural systems, social systems, and the ways to manage the effects of one on the other through effective decision making processes and creative design and planning. The School of Natural Resources & Environment (SNRE) provides a variety of ways to study these elements of ecosystem management through pre-professional graduate studies.
Masters Program
As partial fulfillment of a masters degree, all students complete an "opus" - a thesis, practicum, or group research project. Because of the commitment to interdisciplinary studies and learning, many students choose to participate in the group research project option. These projects involve independent and original research as a group, rather than as individuals, and are usually undertaken for governmental or nongovernmental clients. Project students develop proposals in cooperation with faculty advisors and conduct joint research on topics such as endangered species policy and management of river corridors in urban areas. Several recent masters projects have focused on ecosystem management, and have been supported by the efforts and funding of EMI-affiliated faculty.
Master's Projects:
- Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits Associated with Operation or Removal of the Tower-Kleber Hydroelectric Dam on the Upper Black River in Cheboygan County, Michigan (2017)
- Working at the Landscape Scale: Lessons from the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Planning Process (2016)
- Examining and Evaluating Collaborative Methods and Strategies within the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) (2016)
- Promoting Sustainable Forest Management in Eastern Europe & Russia (2016)
- Resilience of Oregon Coastal Communities in Response to External Stressors (2016)
- Informing the Development of a Regional Water Conservation Plan for the Roaring Fork Watershed (2014)
- Engaging Communities in Marine Protected Areas: Concepts and Strategies from Current Practice (2014)
- Fostering Implementation of the Roaring Fork Watershed Plan (2012)
- An Assessment of Institutional Relationships at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary(2012)
- Renewable Energy in California: Mechanisms for Evaluating Solar Development on Public Lands (April 2010)
- Corn Ethanol and Wildlife: How are Policy- and Market-Driven Increases in Corn Plantings Affecting Habitat and Wildlife? (April 2009)
- Ungulate Pathways of the West: Challenges and Opportunities for conserving Ungulate Migrations in the Western U.S. (April 2009)
- State Wildlife Action Plans (April 2008)
- Sanctuary Advisory Councils: A Study in Collaborative Resource Management (2006)
- Collaborative Planning on State Trust Land (April 2006)
- Investing in Wildlife, State Wildlife Funding Campaigns (April 2005)
- Trends in Easement Language and the Status of Current Monitoring on Working Forest Conservation Easements (April 2005)
- Assessing the Landscape: Toward a Viable Gray Wolf Population in Michigan and Wisconsin (April 2003)
- Shiatown Dam Assessment: Guiding a Community Decision for Action (April 2003)
- Enhancing Collaboration for Conservation and Development in Southern Belize (April 2003)
- Watershed Management on Pohnpei: Lessons for Enhanced Collaboration (April 2003)
- The Role of Land Trusts in Landscape-Scale Collaborative Initiatives
(April 2002)
- Upper Manistee River Watershed Conservation Plan (April 2002)
- A Resting Place for the Ducks: A Multidisciplinary Analysis of Floodplain Restoration of the Hennepin Levee District, Illinois (August 2001)
- Transboundary Collaboration in Ecosystem Management: Integrating Lessons from Experience (April 2001)
- Revisiting Riverside: A Frederick Law Olmsted Community (April 2001)
- Recent Trends in Ecosystem Management (April 2000)
- A Systematic Assessment of Collaborative Resource Management Partnerships (April 1999)
- Ecosystem Management in the United States (April 1995)
Theses:
- The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Marine Conservation (Katherine Crosman, 2013)
- The Inherent Complexity of Collaboration: Fishers's Perceptions on the Implementation of Community-Based No Take Zones in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico(Mariana Velez, 2012)
- Building the Plane We're Flying: Challenges and Opportunities in Louisiana Coastal Restoration (Morgan Crutcher, 2011)
- Constraining Collaboration: The Impacts of a Prescribed Process on the Great Lakes Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species (Jennifer Day, 2010)
- Innovation in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management: Insights from the Integration of Mule Deer Habitat Management and Oil and Gas Leasing (Clayton Elliott, 2010)
- Protected Landscapes and Multiple Use: BLM's National Monuments and Conservation System(Heath Nero, 2009)
- Confounding Collaboration: The Federal Advisory Committee Act's Impact on BLM Resource Advisory Councils(Jason Good, 2007)
- Empowerment in an Era of Self-Determination: The Case of the Washoe Tribe and U.S. Forest Service Co-Management Agreement (Mary Adelzadeh, 2006)
- Challenges and opportunities for collaboration in national forest management in Japan(Toru Gomi, 2005)
- Building capacity for evaluation: Insights from Pilot Testing a New Approach to Ecosystem and Community-Based Evaluation (Stephen Higgs, 2005)
- Beyond ICDPs: From Integrated Conservation and Development Projects to Landscape Conservation Approaches- Cases in the Minshan Landscape, P.R. China (Daigo Koga, 2005)
- Watershed management on Pohnpei: Lessons for Enhanced Collaboration(Christine Ogura, 2003)
- Changing the tire without stopping the car: The Evolution of a Land Trust in Mesa County, Colorado (Robert Bleiberg, 2001)
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program
Students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in the field of ecosystem management will find a variety of professors and research projects compatible with their interests. The commitment to interdisciplinary teaching has brought together the social and the natural sciences within SNRE for many doctoral students. For those students with an even broader focus, the choice of pursuing doctoral degrees in multiple departments, for example SNRE and Anthropology, has also been increasingly common among our interdisciplinary-focused doctoral students.
For more information on graduate degree requirements for both the Masters and Ph.D. programs, please visit the School's Graduate Programs website.
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