Natural Resources Conservation
For the environmental sphere of the certificate, I took many classes that could qualify, but the one that stood out the most was Natural Resource Conservation. What I loved about this class is how many different topics we were able to study in one semester. Some of my favorite topics we were able to discuss include: wildlife management, natural resource tourism, water conservation, wetlands, renewable energy, and coastal issues. I felt that I was able to learn a lot about different environmental issues in a short period of time. Many of these topics, I would not have learned about otherwise since some were not my area of study or required for my major.
My biggest take away from this course was how you can find an environmental connection to almost anything as well as relate it back to sustainability. Some of the topics we discussed only one class day, I have taken a whole course on, such as Environmental Economics. Other topics I had not taken a class on or discussed in my other classes such as rangelands. Being an Environmental Economics & Management major, and Ecology minor, I thought I would know or at least be familiar with most of the topics discussed in this class. I was wrong; I learned a lot that I did not know. This class being called Natural Resource Conservation allowed me to be able to put a “title” on what I wanted to do as a career. I decided I wanted to work with natural resource management and conservation. This class led me to opportunities I did not know existed such as showing me the Master of Natural Resource program the University of Georgia has to offer. Because of this, after graduation, I will continue my education at UGA in this master’s program.
I believe everyone should be required to take some sort of environmental or sustainability class. Things that I know about sustainability, I take for granted that everyone else knows too. I was able to learn how important environmental education is and how much more we have to learn for future integrative management and practices.