About Us

The School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) offers campus-wide, interdisciplinary degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. SNRE is advised by the SNRE Faculty Advisory Council.

The school operates horizontally across UF's elaborate structure of academic disciplines. The school has two dually appointed faculty positions which are shared with other Schools. However, the bulk of participating faculty are in existing discipline-centered departments in other colleges. Approximately 334 members of the University of Florida faculty in 56 departments of 12 colleges are formally affiliated with the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

The School of Natural Resources and Environment collaborates with the following colleges and college-level units:

• Agricultural and Life Sciences
• Business Administration
• Design, Construction and Planning
• Engineering
• Health and Human Performance
• Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Journalism and Communication
• Law
• Public Health and Health Professions
• Medicine
• Veterinary Medicine
• Florida Museum of Natural History
• Center for Latin American Studies

Academic Programs

• Undergraduate

  The school's undergraduate degree tracks are science-based, interdisciplinary, and academically rigorous. The curriculum spans the range of human knowledge needed to solve complex environmental problems not amenable to narrowly based solution. It offers access to 300 courses taught in 56 departments, uniting much of the University's academic program in a future-oriented liberal science. The curriculum combines the basic and applied sciences needed to diagnose problems, the engineering needed to devise solutions, and the social sciences of human processes and institutions needed to take action. The degree does not replace the related, more specialized degrees offered in the University's departments of engineering, life sciences, and social sciences.

• Graduate

  The school's graduate degrees combine (1) coursework in the basic and applied science of ecology and the social, political, and economic sciences with (2) competence in a recognized discipline in one of these fields of study. The former is achieved with a core-course and distribution requirement. The latter is achieved by extra coursework for the master's and a minor for the doctoral degree. A thesis or dissertation provides first-hand experience with the creation of reliable knowledge. Recommended only for students in a hurry, the professional (non-thesis) master's option provides rapid, advanced preparation for the job market in 3-4 semesters, without a research background. Master's and doctoral students each take a course in principles of ecology and one in ecology of a particular type of system. Students also undertake advanced study of three domains of thought integral to interdisciplinary ecology: resource-related natural sciences, environment-oriented social sciences, and human sustainability studies. Choices among 360 courses are custom-fitted by the student and interdisciplinary Supervisory Committee to meet the student's specific needs and interests. Course requirements are 36 semester hours for the master's degree, 38 hours for the non-thesis master's degree, and a total of 90 hours for the doctoral degree (including Master's hours).

The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, masters, education specialist, and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of the University of Florida.