Program Description

The Natural Resources Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree is a field-based program that prepares students for direct employment upon graduation. It accomplishes this by having students involved in government- and private-agency projects (for example, Forest Service, BLM, state agencies, and industrial organizations) and couples this with pertinent classroom instruction. The program prepares students to have an employment edge by providing certifications, instruction, experience, and knowledge required to be directly employable without the need for extensive on-the-job training. Students will take fewer General Education (GE) classes and focus more on natural-resources-related courses.

Program Outcomes

Students who complete an AAS in Natural Resources should expect the following outcomes from the program: 

• Be able to write coherent reports and documents
• Be able to explain the history and policies associated with land use
• Be able to be an advocate for multiple and sustain able use of our natural resources
• Be able to evaluate range resource health through proper monitoring techniques
• Be able to demonstrate accurate monitoring procedures
• Be able to apply economic management principles to natural resource use
• Be able to assess present conditions and determine the action needed to obtain desired result based on a critical analysis of situations
• Understand how natural resources provide our food, fiber, standard of living and recreation
• Understand how resources are interconnected and that management of some resources without consideration of other resources can lead to unexpected results
• Learn to work effectively both individually and with others through class projects and through internship experiences
• Be able to communicate in electronic, verbal, and written formats
• Demonstrate competency in utilizing geospatial technologies (Global Positioning System – GPS, Geographic Information System – GIS, and remote sensing)
• Demonstrate the ability to reason scientifically.

Degree Requirements

In addition to the courses that fulfill the core requirements (no double dipping), students should take a short-term training course and take at least 30 credits from the clusters below with at least one course from each cluster.

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Lab is required for the course.