1. Academic Programs
  2. Master’s Programs
  3. Master of Environmental Management — MEM
  4. MEM Specializations
  5. Ecosystem Management and Conservation Specialization

Ecosystem Management and Conservation Specialization

This specialization gives students the knowledge and skills to become thoughtful stewards of the environment, to ensure that human and nonhuman species can coexist across landscapes.

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    Note that a capstone course used to fulfill the MEM capstone requirement cannot also be used toward fulfilling an MEM Specialization requirement; a capstone course taken once cannot be used to fulfill multiple requirements. Learn more about YSE capstone courses by visiting the MEM Capstone page.

    Program Courses

    Core

     Two courses required.

    Course 1

    Required for all Ecosystem students.
    Course Fall 2023 Spring 2024 Fall 2024 Spring 2025
    ENV 602
    Ecosystems and Landscapes         		Bradford
    M,W 9:00-10:20    		   Faculty  

    Course 2

    Choose one of these three courses.

    Enrollment for ENV 975 will be limited and determined by application. Ecosystem Management and Conservation (EMC) specialization students not accepted to ENV 975 for Spring ’24 may contact Marlyse Duguid , the EMC Learning Community Coordinator, to discuss an approved alternative core course. See the ENV 975 course description for application details.
    Course Fall 2023 Spring 2024 Fall 2024 Spring 2025
    ENV 642
    Environmental Justice/Climate Justice         		Torres
    M,W 10:30-11:50    		   Torres  
    ENV 764
    Sociology of Sacred Values: Modernity, Ecology, and Policy         		        Farrell  
    ENV 975
    Western Lands and Communities Field Clinic: Research to Practice         		  Farrell
    Th 4:00-6:50    		        

    Elective

    Four required courses. Students must take at least one course from each of the following four bins:

    Social Science Principles

    Course Fall 2023 Spring 2024 Fall 2024 Spring 2025
    ENV 573
    Urban Ecology for Local and Regional Decision Making         		Grove
    W 1:00-3:50    		   Grove  
    ENV 605
    Environmental Risk Communication         		Schwarz
    Th 2:30-5:20    		   Schwarz  
    ENV 618
    Anthropology of Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries         		  Carpenter
    W 1:00-3:50    		 Carpenter  
    ENV 631
    Poverty, Environment and Inequality         		Taylor
    Tu 1:00-3:50    		          
    ENV 637
    A Toolkit for Communicating Environmental Science         		  Mooney
    M 9:00-11:50    		        
    ENV 685
    Engaging Landholders and Communities in Conserving and Restoring Tropical Forest Landscapes         		  Garen
    M,W 10:30-11:50    		   Garen
    Tentative
    ENV 742
    Fundamentals of Working with People         		  DeCew
    Tu,Th 8:30-9:50    		   DeCew
    ENV 759
    Power, Knowledge, and the Environment: Social Science         		Dove
    M 1:00-3:50    		   Dove  
    ENV 818
    Sovereignty and the Environment         		  Graef
    Tu 2:30-5:20    		        
    ENV 839
    Power in Conservation         		Carpenter
    W 1:00-3:50    		     Carpenter
    ENV 951
    Strategic Environmental Communication         		  Leiserowitz
    M,W 1:00-2:20    		   Leiserowitz

    Natural Science Principles

    Course Fall 2023 Spring 2024 Fall 2024 Spring 2025
    ENV 629
    North American Drylands: Ecology and Land Use         		  Lauenroth
    Tu,Th 9:00-10:20    		        
    ENV 634
    Ecology of Global Drylands         		          Lauenroth
    ENV 646
    Regenerative Agriculture Systems         		Wood
    Tu 1:00-3:50    		   Wood  
    ENV 659
    The Practice of Silviculture: Principles in Applied Forest Ecology (Friday field trips)         		  Ashton
    M,W 8:30-10:20    		   Ashton
    ENV 660
    Forest Dynamics         		Duguid
    Tu,Th 10:30-11:50    		   Duguid  
    ENV 691
    Field Course: Tropical Sustainable Landscape         		  Brando
    W 1:00-2:20    		        
    ENV 713
    Coastal Ecosystems         		Anisfeld
    W 1:00-5:50    		          
    ENV 723
    Wetlands Ecology, Conservation & Management         		Freidenburg
    M,W 1:00-2:15    		   Freidenburg  
    ENV 736
    Impacts of Climate Change on Freshwater Ecosystems         		Grimm
    Tu,Th 5:30-8:20    		          
    ENV 738
    Wildlife Movement Ecology         		Harris
    Tu 4:00-6:50    		          
    ENV 744
    Conservation Science and Landscape Planning         		  Schmitz
    M,W 10:30-11:50    		   Schmitz
    ENV 752
    Ecology and Conservation of Tropical Forests         		        Harris  

    Quantitative Analysis

    Course Fall 2023 Spring 2024 Fall 2024 Spring 2025
    ENV 603
    Environmental Data Visualization for Communication         		Queenborough
    Tu,Th 9:00-10:20    		   Queenborough  
    ENV 617
    Real World Environmental Data Science         		  Grewal
    M 2:30-5:20    		   Grewal
    ENV 728
    Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis in the Environmental Sciences         		Reuning-Scherer
    Tu,Th 2:30-3:50    		          
    ENV 730
    Environmental Data Science in R: Introduction to Data Integration and Machine Learning         		  Malone
    Tu 2:30-5:20    		 Malone  
    ENV 753
    Regression Modeling of Ecological and Environmental Data         		Gregoire
    M,W 10:30-11:50    		   Gregoire  
    ENV 755
    Modeling Geographic Space         		  Tomlin
    Th 1:00-3:50    		   Tomlin
    ENV 756
    Modeling Geographic Objects         		Tomlin
    Th 1:00-3:50    		   Tomlin  
    ENV 762
    Applied Math for Environmental Studies (AMES):Foundations for Measuring and Modeling Environmental and Socio-environmental Systems         		Fenichel
    M,W 10:30-11:50    		   Fenichel  
    ENV 781
    Applied Spatial Statistics         		  Gregoire
    Tu,Th 10:30-11:50    		   Gregoire
    ENV 795
    Nature as Capital: Merging Ecological and Economic Models         		          Fenichel
    ENV 834
    Environmental Economics and Policy         		  Kotchen
    M,W 9:00-10:20    		   Kotchen

    Management and Policy

    Course Fall 2023 Spring 2024 Fall 2024 Spring 2025
    ENV 586
    Fisheries & Aquaculture         		  Freidenburg
    Tu,Th 1:00-2:15    		   Freidenburg
    ENV 610
    Managing Ecosystems for Climate Change Solutions         		Brando
    Tu 9:00-11:50    		   Brando  
    ENV 624
    The Science, Policy, and Management of GHG Removal Strategies         		Saiers
    W 9:00-11:50    		          
    ENV 641
    Market-Based Mechanisms for Water Management         		Kruse
    Th 1:00-3:50    		   Kruse  
    ENV 649
    Food Systems: The Implications of Unequal Access         		  Taylor
    Th 1:00-3:50    		        
    ENV 677
    Ecological Restoration         		  Duguid
    Tu,Th 10:30-11:50    		        
    ENV 692
    Science and Practice of Temperate Agroforestry         		Giroux
    M 1:00-3:50    		   Orefice  
    ENV 745
    Global Human-Wildlife Interactions         		Harris
    M,W 2:30-3:45    		   Harris  
    ENV 760
    Conservation in Practice: An International Perspective         		  Vedder
    Tu,Th 5:30-6:50    		   Vedder
    ENV 767
    Tools for Conservation Project Design & Management         		  Vedder
    M,W 2:30-3:50    		   Vedder
    ENV 817
    Urban, Suburban, and Regional Planning Practice         		Kooris
    Tu 4:00-6:50    		   Kooris  
    ENV 820
    Land Use Law and Environmental Planning         		  Shansky
    M,W 4:00-5:20    		        
    ENV 821
    Environmental Policymaking: From Local to Global         		Sanford
    M,W 2:30-3:50    		   Sanford  
    ENV 824
    Environmental Law and Policy         		  Klee
    M,W 1:00-2:20    		   Klee
    ENV 835
    Seminar on Land Use Planning (Fall-1 Aug 28-Oct 11)         		Bacher
    W 10:30-11:50    		   Bacher  
    ENV 835E
    Seminar on Land Use Planning (Online)         		  Bacher
    O Online    		   Bacher
    Tentative
    ENV 956
    Strategies for Land Conservation         		  Gentry
    Tu 2:30-5:20    		   Gentry
    ENV 962
    Tribal Resources and Sovereignty-Clinic         		Gonzalez-Rogers
    W 9:00-11:50    		 Gonzalez-Rogers
    W 9:00-11:50    		        
    Ecosystem Illustration

    Learning Community

    There is a corresponding “Learning Community” for each specialization, where anyone interested in the topic can find related news, spotlights, colleagues, and events.

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    Faculty Coordinator

    Staff Manager

    Michelle Downey

    Michelle Downey

    Program Director, Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative; Staff Manager, Ecosystem Management and…