Adaptive Management Graduate Specialization

The Adaptive Management specialization is designed to provide a rigorous, focused graduate program that draws on faculty expertise in both adaptive management and structured decision making.

Adaptive governance and adaptive management are innovative integrative approaches that treat policy and management as experiments designed to determine and decrease uncertainties and identify thresholds for the successful management of complex systems. For adaptive governance and adaptive management to be successful there is a critical need for explicit training of future social and natural resource scientists, managers, and policymakers in the process of adaptive management and in resilience theory, which gave rise to adaptive management. Students enrolling in this emphasis area will be interested in the interface of research, management and policy.

The School of Natural Resources is in the newly renovated Hardin Hall on UNL’s East Campus. The new building has excellent laboratory, office, and classroom facilities to support research, teaching and outreach regarding natural resources. Nebraska has a wealth of natural terrestrial and aquatic resources, including the Sand Hills, the Rainwater Basins and the Pine Ridge. Nebraska contains the largest aquifer (groundwater reservoir) in the world, more than 5,000 wetlands, including rare saline sites near Lincoln, and more than 1,000 reservoirs and sandpit lakes across the state. Both the Missouri and Platte Rivers are the subject of major national adaptive management efforts. The University hosts a NSF IGERT project “Resilience and Adaptive Governance of Stressed Watersheds. Our Adaptive Management specialization is the first of its kind."

Laboratory resources include the water, fisheries and terrestrial ecology laboratories with cutting-edge analytical capabilities and microcosm facilities with artificial streams and 1,000-L tanks. Field facilities include Cedar Point Biological Station in western Nebraska and a system of many research sites across the state. Adaptive Management is an interdisciplinary endeavor. Cooperating departments include Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Biological Sciences, Law and Policy.

1. Provide students a learning environment to promote a broad understanding of adaptive management principles and how they can be applied to the conservation and management of our natural resources.
2. To recognize students who have attained an advanced knowledge of adaptive management principals and application.
3. To support interactions and cooperation among the community of scientists and students working on applied adaptive management.

While there are no specific guidelines or national accreditation programs, students will be encouraged to seek a broad background in several areas focusing on interactions among learning, management and governance. The specialization is designed for students interested in applying ecological principles to the adaptive management of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Currently the School of Natural Resources has M.S. specializations in Agro-forestry, Aquatic Ecology, Wildlife Ecology, and a Ph.D. specialization in Applied Ecology. The specialization should appeal to students broadly interested in the management of complex systems of people and nature and more specifically in aquatic ecology, conservation biology, forest ecology, grassland ecology, wildlife ecology and ecosystem science.  This program should also be of special interest to mid-career professionals seeking additional training. 

Different approaches to Adaptive Management are possible, and the focus may be primarily ecological, quantitative or social.  Students will be exposed to all three areas, but different focal areas will require different skills; students will work closely with their advisors to ensure they have the required background and prerequisite courses. Students and committees may also wish to consider classes in subject areas such as computer or stochastic modeling or optimization. Students are encouraged to take a broad array of classes that will provide the background to address ecosystem management issues from various perspectives.

All potential SNR M.S. graduate students must meet the following minimum requirements or provide the requested information:

• A bachelor’s degree with a background that includes at least one course in each of the following disciplines with a minimum of eight courses total
  • Mathematics (must include one semester of Calculus)
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Life Sciences (Agronomy, Biology, Ecology, Forestry, Wetlands, etc.)
  • Earth Sciences (Geology, Meteorology, Oceanography, Soils, etc.)
• GRE with minimum recommended scores of 1120 for Verbal and Quantitative copmbined and 4.0 for Analytical Writing.
• TOEFL score of 550 paper-, 213 computer- or 79 web-based (applies only to international applicants for whom English is not the first language)
• GPA of 3.0 (on a 4-point system)
• Three letters of recommendation
• Statement of purpose

There are no specific requirements beyond those necessary for admission into the School of Natural Resources graduate program; however, a strong background in interdisciplinary sciences is beneficial.

Print a document containing complete program requirements.

• Document is being prepared.

The graduate programs in Natural Resource Sciences requires 2 credits of seminar; this will be met in this specialization through NRES 898 Facilitation seminar and one other seminar, chosen by the student and their supervisory committee.  Electives may be added in consultation with the students’ supervisory committee. 

• NRES 898 – Foundations of Resilience (3)
• NRES 898 – Adaptive Environmental Decision – Making (3)
• NRES 898 – Adaptive Management Facilitation Seminar (1)
• NRES 897 – Career Experiences in Natural Resource Sciences (Research and Practice in Adaptive Resource Management) (1-3)
• NRES 898 – Adaptive Management Workshop (summer, 1-week course) (1)
• POLS 831 – Core Seminar in Public Policy (3)

Note - some of the courses listed below have prerequisites.  Students without prerequisites are required to complete them, or obtain the permission of the instructor to enroll.  

• BIOS 856 – Mathematical Models in Biology (3) 
• NRES/STAT 803 – Ecological Statistics (4)
• NRES 898 – Parameter estimation / MARK / Distance (1– 3)
• MATH 823 – Mathematical Applications in Biology (3)
• NRES 850 – Biology of Wildlife Populations (4)
• PSYC 883 – Psychology of Social Behavior (3)
• AECN 856 – Environmental Law (3)
• AECN 841 – Environ. Law (var. 1-4)
• POLS 931 – Water Policy (3)
• POLS 836 – Public Policy Analysis (3)
• NRES 823 – Integrated Resource Management (3)
• POLS 831 – Core Seminar in Public Policy (3)         
• AECN 865 – Resource and Environmental Economics (3)
• AECN 886 – Ecological Economics (3)

A thesis or dissertation topic in Adaptive Management (NRES 899):
The chair (or one co-chair) of the student’s supervisory committee must be a faculty member from the Adaptive Management Group and a member of the UNL graduate faculty.

Successful completion of all requirements will be indicated on the student’s final transcript as “Natural Resource Sciences with a specialization in Adaptive Management.”

Our M.S. and Ph.D. students have pursued a wide range of career paths over the past several years, including positions with state and federal agencies, natural resources districts, environmental consulting firms, and nongovernmental (nonprofit) organizations. Course work and thesis topics are coordinated closely with a student’s long-term goals.