Environmental Management

Increasingly, and seemingly everywhere, widespread environmental problems demand sustainable solutions, solutions that are often up to environmental managers and scientists to provide.

Building on the Associate’s degree in Environmental Studies, SUNY Cobleskill’s four-year Bachelor of Technology degree in Environmental Management trains students in the conservation of natural or biological resources, applied water resources, and ecosystem management and restoration.

Much of our instruction takes place in the classroom – but much of it also occurs in forests, streams and rivers, and on agricultural lands close to campus. Courses include soil and water conservation, watershed management, conservation biology, restoration ecology, forest and aquatic ecology, terrestrial invertebrate ecology, entomology and applied hydrology. Throughout the curriculum, current environmental issues – such as invasive species, climate change, habitat loss and conservation of biodiversity – are addressed and explored.

Instruction takes place in the classroom, but relies extensively on field experiences in forests, streams and rivers, and agricultural lands in close proximity to campus.

Course content emphasizes current environmental issues such as invasive species, biological control of invasive species, climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, ecosystem services, and conservation of biodiversity. Sample courses include:

Graduates of SUNY Cobleskill Environmental Science programs will be well-prepared for positions in government agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, as well as in today’s growing number of private environmental consulting companies.

Alternatively, students may elect to seek Masters degrees in such areas as Ecology, Entomology, Forestry, Soil Sciences, Hydrology and other environment-related specialties.

The program prepares students for a broad range of positions, including:

FWES Job Board

Our internship program gives students valuable, real-world experience in an array of environmental work settings. Some of our past placements have been with the Natural Resource Conservation Summer Internship program, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Central to the program is a project-based capstone sequence that allows students to develop and conduct an independent project and present the results of their work at a professional conference. The sequence focuses on professional development, research methodology, proposal development, data collection, analysis and presentation.

In order to expose students to global conservation issues, diverse study-abroad opportunities are available annually. Recent destination have included Peru, the Galapagos Islands, Panama and South Africa.

The College’s ultra-modern Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources serves as a laboratory for hands-on learning. The interdisciplinary building, unique in the nation, includes state-of-the-art greenhouses, a 40,000-gallon cold water fish hatchery and a USDA inspected meat laboratory. The surrounding 905 acre campus includes a working farm, with a 200-cow contemporary free stall dairy, an equine complex with an indoor arena, and a fully equipped agricultural engineering technology facility.

Dr. Carmen Greenwood, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Office: Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Room 127
518-255-5584
greenwcm@cobleskill.edu
Read her full bio >>

Dr. Andrew Gascho Landis, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Office: Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Room 123
518-255-5296
gaschoam@cobleskill.edu