Natural Resources - Learning Outcomes

Students who graduate with a Natural Resources degree from OSU should be able to integrate technical “field” knowledge with analytical skills to solve important natural resource management problems.  They should be able to communicate effectively, work collaboratively, assess their professional strengths and weaknesses, and be committed to continuous learning and professional development.

 Specifically, they should be able to:

1. Describe ecological processes, including human impacts that influence ecosystems change, natural succession and the future sustainability of natural resources.

2. Characterize natural resources and be able to quantify at least one of these resources.

3. Envision desired future conditions in an area to achieve a set of natural resource-related objectives, prescribe management actions needed to achieve those objectives, and evaluate success of these actions.

4. Describe how the use, management and allocation of natural resources are affected by: laws, policies, economic factors (both market and non-market), and characteristics (including demographic, cultural, ethnic, and "values" differences) of private and public resource owners and users.

5. Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with audiences of diverse backgrounds.

6. Work effectively with, and within, interdisciplinary and diverse groups to resolve management problems and achieve management objectives.