The School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) offers campus-wide, interdisciplinary degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. SNRE also sponsors public outreach and extension programs and supports critical environmental research in a variety of fields. SNRE is governed by the SNRE Advisory Board and advised by the SNRE Faculty Advisory Council and the SNRE External Advisory Council.

The School of Natural Resources and Environment collaborates with the following Colleges:

Faculty participate in SNRE through affiliation, part-time appointments, joint appointments or as senior fellows. Dr. James C. Cato provides leadership to the SNRE in his role as Senior Associate Dean and Director of the SNRE. Dr. Stephen R. Humphrey serves as Director for Academic Programs. Research and Outreach/Extension programs are co-ordinated by Dr. Stephen S. Mulkey, Director for Research and Outreach/Extension and Ms. Nancy J. Peterson, Associate Director for Research and Outreach/Extension.

Click here to view the SNRE Organization Chart.

Click here to view the Constitution and Bylaws, ratified as of April 12, 2004.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
The mission of the school is to provide interdisciplinary environmental degree programs with university-wide scope and to develop leaders with integrated thinking about natural and social systems, ready to face challenges in natural resources and the environment with reliable knowledge and good judgment.

The school's undergraduate degree tracks are science-based, interdisciplinary, and academically rigorous. The curriculum spans the range of human knowledge needed to solve complex environmental problems not amenable to narrowly based solution. It offers access to 200 courses taught in 56 departments, uniting much of the University's academic program in a future-oriented liberal science. The curriculum combines the basic and applied sciences needed to diagnose problems, the engineering needed to devise solutions, and the social sciences of human processes and institutions needed to take action. The degree does not replace the related, more specialized degrees offered in the University's departments of engineering, life, and social sciences.

The school's graduate degrees combine (1) coursework in the basic and applied science of ecology and the social, political, and economic sciences with (2) competence in a recognized discipline in one of these fields of study. The former is achieved with a core-course and distribution requirement. The latter is achieved by extra coursework for the master's and a minor for the doctoral degree. A thesis or dissertation provides first-hand experience with the creation of reliable knowledge. Alternatively, the professional (non-thesis) master's option provides rapid, advanced preparation for the job market in 3-4 semesters, without a research background. Master's and doctoral students each take a course in principles of ecology and one in ecology of a particular type of system. Students also undertake advanced study of three domains of thought integral to interdisciplinary ecology: resource-related natural sciences, environment-oriented social sciences, and human sustainability studies. Choices among 150 courses are custom-fitted by the student and interdisciplinary Supervisory Committee to meet the student's specific needs and interests. Course requirements are 36 semester hours for the master's degree, 38 hours for the non-thesis master's degree, and an additional 60 hours for the doctoral degree.

The school operates horizontally across UF's elaborate structure of academic disciplines. The school has two dually appointed faculty positions which are shared with other Schools. However, the bulk of participating faculty are in existing discipline-centered departments in other colleges. Approximately 290 members of the University of Florida faculty in 56 departments of 11 colleges are formally affiliated with the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

"[one] who has been educated in a subject is a good judge of that subject, and [one] who has received an all-round education is a good judge in general."
- Aristotle, 300 BC

"The history of humanity has always been a race between learning and disaster."
- H.G. Wells

Last Modified:  Thursday, June 26, 2008 16:10