EXPLORE THE NATURAL RESOURCES PROGRAM

Let the great outdoors become your classroom. A major built for hands-on opportunity and getting you career ready. Prescribed burning, duck banding, bird surveys, mammal trapping, plant and animal identification, radio-telemetry and GIS/GPS training to name a few of the many labs and opportunities you will have on our campus. UMN Crookston also has quick, convenient access to two National Wildlife Refuges and a 90-acre natural history area. To make your time here even more valuable, all students complete a federal wildland firefighter certification. 

Natural Resources is a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree.

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Is Crookston the M for You?

Program Features

  • EARN A UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DEGREE
  • Student learning how to do a controlled burn
  • SIX AREAS OF EMPHASIS
  • Faculty member helping students do identifications
  • Students in a marsh doing some analysis
  • YOUR CLASSROOM IS OUTDOORS
  • Students in a local river netting and water testing
  • RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

REAL. HANDS-ON. READY.

quick facts >>

EMPHASIS AREAS

  • Ecological Restoration
  • Natural Resources Law Enforcement
  • Natural Resources Management
  • Park Management
  • Water Resource Management
  • Wildlife Management 

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

The Natural Resources major prepares students for a variety of career paths based on the emphasis they choose.

  • Departments of Natural Resources (DNR)
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • U.S. Forest Service
  • Natural Resource Conservation Service
  • National Park Service
  • Soil and Water Conservation Districts
  • County Lands and Forestry Departments
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • Pheasants Forever/Ducks Unlimited
  • Private conservation organizations
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On-Campus Natural Resources

at a glance...

Experience prescribed burning,  duck banding, mammal trapping, plant and animal identification, map & compass training, stream and riparian surveys, invasive species management, field sampling and GIS/GPS training. 

Join our variety of natural resource based clubs, such as the Natural Resources Club,  UMN Crookston Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society, UMN Crookston Collegiate Trap Team, and Crookston Students for Sustainable Development. 

Gain field research experiences with UMN Crookston and with faculty from the Northwest Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota Extension, other UMN Campuses, other universities, and state and federal agency researchers.

Take regular field trips to regionally-significant resource areas.

Student employment is available supporting the program and maintaining the wildlife museum’s 3000+ specimens.

Experience the on-campus 90-acre Red River Valley Natural History Area managed by students and program faculty.

30-minute drive to two National Wildlife Refuges, dozens of Wildlife Management Areas, five Scientific and Natural Areas, many Waterfowl Production Areas, and other public lands.

30-minute drive to two National Wildlife Refuges, dozens of Wildlife Management Areas, five Scientific and Natural Areas, many Waterfowl Production Areas, and other public lands.
Crookston Golden Eagle

REAL. HANDS-ON. READY.

At the U of M Crookston, you won’t spend all your time behind a desk. Our curriculum is designed around experiential learning, which means we want you to have as much hands-on learning as possible. Depending on your major, you’ll find opportunities to be in the field, the lab, the classroom, or engaging in simulated scenarios that give you a competitive edge when you enter the workforce or head to grad school. You’ll learn the concepts and then actively apply them through projects, field trips, site visits, internships, and interactions with professionals in the field.

DIVE DEEPER

YOUR FUTURE PROFESSORS

Picture of Eric Castle

Eric Castle

Associate Professor
Picture of Brenda Chaplinski

Brenda Chaplinski

Lecturer
Photo unavailable

Timothy Driscoll

Teaching Specialist

Student Stories

Brian Lemay Alaskan Wildlife Trooper

PROGRAM STORIES

UMN Crookston Professor John Loegering Receives The Wildlife Society Fellows Award

Loegering Receives The Wildlife Society Fellows Award

John Loegering, professor of natural resources at the University of Minnesota Crookston, was recognized as a Fellow of The Wildlife Society Fellows Award (TWS). With the award, Loegering joins a prestigious and distinctive group of professionals with a legacy of service and a wealth of contributions to the wildlife ecology and management field. A certified wildlife biologist, Loegering serves as an advisor to the Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society, a group he helped organize when he arrived on the Crookston campus in 2000. 

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