The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources offers a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Natural Resources. We are a multi-disciplinary academic unit that strives to integrate disparate disciplines to create knowledge and develop solutions to a broad array of environmental issues. Faculty expertise includes forestry, wildlife biology, recreation management, environmental philosophy, sociology, policy, planning, economics, conflict resolution, and environmental sciences. In addition, interdisciplinary fields like conservation biology, ecological economics, and ecological design find their home in The Rubenstein School. Doctoral students can earn a Certificate in Ecological Economics as part of their Ph.D. program.
Along with strong relationships with a network of conservation organizations, the program establishes a strong curricular base to support academic leadership in conservation.
The Doctoral Program in Natural Resources provides an opportunity for both in-depth and interdisciplinary scholarship in the broad area of environment. Students work with faculty on national and international issues ranging from very focused studies on tree tissue responses to anthropogenic pollutants, like acid rain, in the Northeast to ecosystem service valuation in the Amazon Basin.
Two specific emphases of the program come from the strongly held values of the faculty and are fairly unique among doctoral programs nationwide: 1) a supervised teaching experience along with a course in higher education pedagogy, and 2) a cross-cultural competency requirement. Students in the program move toward both academic and professional careers.
A list of Ph.D. dissertations can be found here.
Applicants with a Master of Science degree are preferred. Other admission requirements include: satisfactory scores on the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination and acceptability to a potential faculty advisor holding an appointment in The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Graduate College. General requirements can be found within the University of Vermont Catalogue.
