The Program

The Graduate Certificate Program consists of eleven courses organized and integrated through assignments and field experiences in a wide range of ecosystems. In addition to course work, each student conducts an independent project resulting in a work plan directed at solving a sustainability problem in the student's own organization or region.

Complicated Problems
Declining habitat and species diversity Explosion of invasive species Loss of living wage jobs Short term profit vs long term productivity Are we limiting our - and our grandchildren's - future through natural resource practices and policies?

These are just a few of today's many natural resource problems that are the result of complicated histories, actions, and polices. To expect simple - or quick - solutions to such problems is folly. We need new approaches, skills, and ways of thinking about our natural resources.

A Worldwide Need

Not only are resource problems multi-dimensional, they are international in scope. Globalization clearly reveals how decisions and practices in any part of the world affect natural resources everywhere. The entire world is in need of natural resource professionals who can think about complex problems and find innovative solutions.

A Different Kind of Education

Traditional university training provides rigor in individual disciplines. However, it typically does not provide background and skills to synthesize diverse perspectives and multiple sources of evidence. To address our complex natural resource problems, whole-systems thinking and learning is required.

Graduate Certificate Program in Sustainable Natural Resources at OSU

This 18-credit interdisciplinary program is designed to build personal and organizational capacity to examine the many faces of natural resource problems - environmental, economic, and social - in the search for innovative solutions. By offering this program as an online series of courses, it will be possible for people from around the world to participate and to receive their graduate certificate without having to take a leave of absence from their work. The opportunity to collaborate with natural resource managers or graduate students from other regions or countries will offer all participants a broader perspective on management issues and potential solutions.

Why Oregon?

The state of Oregon has a diversity of ecosystems, from the Snake River canyon on the eastern border, west through high desert mountain ranges, alpine forests, lush valleys bounded by temperate rainforest, and ending at Pacific Ocean coastal estuaries and off-shore reefs. Natural resources, including forestry, fisheries, water and hydropower, grazing, and mining, have always been a major part of Oregon's economy, and Oregon is home to many experts in the sustainable management of these resources.

Why Oregon State University?

OSU faculty in natural resources - including fisheries, forestry, rangeland, and water - are world renowned. The College of Forestry is regularly named one of the top natural resource schools in the United States. A John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant has helped OSU create innovative sustainability curricula. The university also owns research forests and agricultural sites where groundbreaking research is conducted. The SNR certificate program will draw upon the knowledge and experience of local experts in the field of sustainable natural resource management to teach each module and to serve as mentors for participants in the program.