Resource Conservation

Laurie Yung, Associate Professor, Resource Conservation Program Director

The challenging and rapidly evolving field of environmental conservation requires broad training and the ability to integrate and communicate across disciplines. Resource Conservation is an interdepartmental undergraduate major that prepares students for the diverse opportunities that now exist in environmental conservation, natural resource management, and sustainable livelihoods and communities. Students can choose a more structured area of study in the natural sciences, such as ecology or hydrology, or emphasize emerging sub-disciplines such as wildland fire management, natural resource economics, or climate and environmental change. Students can also integrate across disciplines and focus on environmental policy and natural resources planning, wilderness studies, sustainable livelihoods and community conservation, or international conservation.  For more information on different curricular tracks within the Resource Conservation major, please see:  www.cfc.umt.edu/rc.  In addition to degree requirements listed below, students selecting the Bachelor of Science in Resource Conservation should contact their faculty advisor to approve their curriculum.  

Undergraduate Degrees Available

Subject Type Option Track
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Climate & Environmental Change
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Ecology of Terrestrial Ecosystems
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Environmental Policy & Resources Planning
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science International Conservation
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Natural Resource Economics
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Range Management & Grassland Ecology
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Sustainable Livelihoods & Community Conservation
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Watershed Hydrology
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Wilderness Studies
Resource Conservation Bachelor of Science Wildland Fire Management

Department Faculty

Professor

  • Jill M. Belsky, Professor of Rural & Environmental Sociology; Chair, Department of Society & Conservation
  • Cory Cleveland, Professor of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
  • Martin Nie, Professor, Natural Resource Policy; Director, Bolle Center for People & Forests
  • Stephen F. Siebert, Professor of Tropical Forest Conservation & Management; Undergraduate Program Director, Resource Conservation

Associate Professor

  • Keith Bosak, Associate Professor of Nature Based Tourism and Recreation
  • Dane Scott, Associate Professor of Ethics; Director of the Center for Ethics
  • Carl Seielstad, Associate Research Professor; Fire/Fuels Program Manager, National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis
  • Laurie Yung, Associate Professor of Natural Resource Social Science

Assistant Professor

  • Brady Allred, Assistant Professor of Rangeland Ecology
  • Ashley Ballantyne, Assistant Professor of Bioclimatology
  • Brian Chaffin, Assistant Professor of Water Policy
  • Andrew Larson, Associate Professor of Forest Ecology
  • Alexander L. Metcalf, Research Assistant Professor

Adjunct

  • Nicky Phear, Climate Change Studies Program Director and Instructor

Emeritus

  • Paul Alaback, Professor Emeritus of Forest Ecology