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Master of Natural Resources, MNR

The Master in Natural Resource program is designed to give natural resource professionals the skills required to work as decision makers and managers in natural resources. This program opens the door to a fulfilling career focused on the outdoors.

Program Details

• Level: Master's Degree
• Credits required: 30 credits
• Cost per credit: $518
• Next start date: January 5, 2026

Program Overview

The goal of USU's Online Master of Natural Resources degree is to prepare students for an advanced career in natural resource management positions. This program is designed for professionals who continue working while earning the degree. Faculty have real-world experience, and teach relevant concepts in analysis and decision theory. Coursework focuses on human dimensions, quantitative methods, ecological foundations, spatial analysis, and policy/administration. Students earning this degree may also complete the Geographic Information Science (GIS) certificate in conjunction with this degree.

Career Outlooks

As a natural resource professional, this master's degree gives students the knowledge and skills to become a leader. Some career options are:

• Forester
• Rangeland Scientist
• Fisheries and Wildlife Biologist
• Wetland Ecologist
• Natural Resource Managers
• and more

Natural Resources Curriculum Preview

ENVS 6320 - Water Law and Policy in the United States

Introduction to policies, laws, institutions, and practices guiding western water allocation, emphasizing how to efficiently and equitably allocate increasingly scarce supplies. Explores reserved water rights, water markets, stream adjudication, public trust doctrine, basinwide management, and riparian management.

NR 6570 - Ecological Foundations of Natural Resource Management

The overall aim of this course is to make direct links between principles of ecological theory and applied aspects of natural resource management.

NR 6950 - Geospatial Analysis for Natural Resource Management

In this course, students consider what an increasingly democratic GIS might look like. They gain hands-on experience with tools and theories that aim to make GIS a more inclusive technology by working with spatial data in the open-source programming language R.

WATS 6530 - Water Quality and Pollution

This course covers sources, transport and transformation processes, impacts, prevention, and mitigation of the major categories of water pollution. It includes policy and management approaches required by the Clean Water Act and state law. Additional work is required for students registered in the graduate-level course.

College and Catalog Details

• College: College of Natural Resources