Graduates of the Environment and Resources master’s and PhD programs are employed in many different types of positions by a wide variety of organizations including governmental and non-governmental agencies, private industry, universities, and others.
Where Our Graduates Work
24.6%
Government
20.5%
University staff
20.4%
Nonprofit/NGO
17.6%
University faculty
16.9%
Private
Types of Careers
View a sampling of job titles held by graduates of the Environment and Resources program.
Professor
Universidad de Guadalajara (Autlan, Jalisco, Mexico)
Environmental Economist
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Western Ecology Division (Corvallis, OR)
Senior Energy Analyst
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO)
Wildlife Biologist
USDA Forest Service (Rhinelander, WI)
Conservation Ecologist
The Nature Conservancy (Sturgeon Bay, WI)
Ecosystem Policy Manager
Conservation International-Japan (Tokyo, Japan)
Policy and Program Director
Clean Lakes Alliance (Madison, WI)
Director, Environmental Health and Safety
Goodrich Corporation (Charlotte, NC)
Landscape Designer/Project Manager
Larry Weaner Landscape Associates (Glenside, PA)
Assistant Scientist
UW-Madison
The tables below show a more detailed list of the types of positions our graduates have held. The information includes entry- through senior-level positions. The complete alumni directory is available in the Nelson Institute Academic Programs Office.
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Faculty Positions (17.6%)
| Position | Employer (City, State) | Degree Level |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Professor | Bucknell University, Environmental Studies Program (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania) | MS |
| Assistant Professor | Cornell University (Ithaca, New York) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | McGill University (Montreal, Canada) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | Northland College (Ashland, Wisconsin) | MS |
| Assistant Professor | School of Nursing, UW-Madison (Madison, Wisconsin) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | Southern Oregon University (Ashland, Oregon) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Geography and Environmental Systems (Baltimore, Maryland) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | University of Missouri (Columbia, Missouri) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | UW-Madison (Madison, Wisconsin) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor | Yale (New Haven, Connecticut) | MS |
| Assistant Professor of Agriculture, Society, and Food Security | University of California-Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (Berkeley, California) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies | Green Mountain College (Poultney, Vermont) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor of Sociology | Washington State University-Vancouver (Vancouver, Washington) | PhD |
| Assistant Professor of Sustainability Science | Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (Lund, Sweden) | MS |
| Assistant Professor/Research Scientist II | Colorado State University (Pueblo, Colorado) | PhD |
| Associate Professor | University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia) | PhD |
| Associate Professor | University of New England (Biddeford, Maine) | PhD |
| Associate Professor of Environmental Science | Franklin College Switzerland (Sorengo, Switzerland) | PhD |
| Associate Professor of Law | University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho) | PhD |
| Associate Researcher | University of Teacher Training in St. Gallen, Switzerland (St. Gallen, Switzerland) | MS |
| Dean – Social Sciences & Career Options | Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) | PhD |
| Professor | Universidad de Guadalajara (Autlan, Jalisco, Mexico) | PhD |
| Tenure Track Life Science Faculty | Rock Valley College (Rockford, Illinois) | PhD |
Government Positions (24.6%)
| Position | Employer (City, State) | Degree Level |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture Agent | UW-Extension, Jackson County (Black River Falls, WI) | MS |
| Biological Technician | Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (Salt Lake City, UT) | MS |
| Compliance and Enforcement Data Manager | WDNR – Bureau of Air Management (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Correctional Officer; Ranger | Dept of Corrections/Dept of Health Services; Dept of Natural Resources (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Easement Programs Coordinator | USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Environmental economist | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Western Ecology Division (Corvallis, OR) | PhD |
| Environmental Program Manager | Federal Highway Administration – Wisconsin Division (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Environmental Protection Specialist | US EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality (Ann Arbor, MI) | MS |
| Fisheries LTE | WI Dept of Natural Resources (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Forestry Planner | WI Dept of Natural Resources (Madison, WI) | MS |
| GIS Analyst | Franklin County Virginia (Rocky Mount, VA) | MS |
| GIS Coordinator | City of Sun Prairie (Sun Prairie, WI) | MS |
| Horticulture Educator | Eau Claire County UW-Extension (Altoona, WI) | MS |
| Lake and Reservoir Ecologist | WDNR (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Law Clerk | Wisconsin Court of Appeals (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Natural Resources Planner | Whatcom County Planning and Development Services (Bellingham, WA) | MS |
| Outreach Specialist | WI Dept of Natural Resources (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Planner | City of Madison (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Program Manager and Team Lead, Coalbed Methane Outreach Program | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Washington, DC) | PhD |
| Program Technician | USDA – Farm Service Agency (Faribault, MN) | MS |
| Project Assistant, Southwest Grassland and Stream Conservation Area | Wisconsin DNR (Fitchburg, WI) | MS |
| Project Manager | California Energy Commission (Sacramento, CA) | MS |
| Research Scientist | NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene (New York, NY) | MS |
| Restoration Ecologist | City of Eugene, Oregon: Parks and Open Space Division (Eugene, OR) | MS |
| Riparian Management Forester | Wisconsin DNR, Forestry Division, Forest Sciences Section (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Senior Biologist | City of Austin Wildland Conservation Division (Austin, TX) | MS |
| Senior Energy Analyst | National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO) | PhD |
| Software Engineer | National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, CO) | PhD |
| Specialty Crop Block Grant Manager | WI Dept of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Supervisor, Demand Side Energy Management Evaluation | California Public Utilities Commission (San Francisco, CA) | MS |
| Teacher | Oconomowoc Area School District (Oconomowoc, WI) | PhD |
| Utah State Grazing Coordinator | Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (Salt Lake City, UT) | MS |
| Water Resources Management Specialist | WI Dept of Natural Resources (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Watershed Coordinator | Oldham County Fiscal Court – Curry’s Fork (La Grange, KY) | MS |
| Wildlife Biologist | USDA Forest Service (Rhinelander, WI) | PhD |
Non-Profit/NGO (20.4%)
| Position | Employer (City, State) | Degree Level |
|---|---|---|
| Attorney | Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (Prestonsburg, KY) | MS |
| Board Member | Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (Chicago, IL) | PhD |
| Certification Manager | Food Alliance (Portland, OR) | MS |
| Children’s Ministries Coordinator (part time) | St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Madison, WI (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Clean Energy Policy Advisor | The Wilderness Society (Washington, DC) | MS |
| Conservation Ecologist | The Nature Conservancy (Sturgeon Bay, WI) | MS |
| Director of Advocacy and Education | Local Motion (Burlington, VT) | MS |
| Director of Conservation Strategy | Conservation International (Arlington, VA) | PhD |
| Director of Ecological Restoration | Belwin Conservancy (Afton, MN) | MS |
| Director, Creation Care Program | The Center for Law and Culture, Olivet Nazarene University (Bourbonnais, IL) | PhD |
| Ecosystem Policy Manager | Conservation International-Japan (Tokyo, Japan) | PhD |
| Executive Director | Driftless Area Land Conservancy (Dodgeville, WI) | MS |
| Executive Director | Family Farm Defenders (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Executive Director and Founder | Lion Guardians program (Nairobi, Kenya) | PhD |
| Founder and President of Ecological Internet | www.ecologicalinternet.org (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Government Relations Director | Gathering Waters Conservancy (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Green Downtown Program Manager | 1000 Friends of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Lawyer | Pivot Legal Society (Vancouver, Canada) | MS |
| Naturalist | Aldo Leopold Nature Center (Monona, WI) | MS |
| Policy and Program Director | Clean Lakes Alliance (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Policy Director | California Climate and Agriculture Network (Sacramento, CA) | MS |
| Policy Director | Wisconsin Wetlands Association (Madison, WI) | MS |
| President | Panda Mountain – U.S. China Environmental Fund (Mount Horeb, WI) | MS |
| Project Manager | Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development (Boston, MA) | MS |
| Project Manager/Energy Efficiency Research | Energy Center of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Site Manager/Ecologist | The Nature Conservancy (Morocco, IN) | MS |
| Teacher | Virginia Beach Friends School (Virginia, VA) | MS |
| Team Development Specialist | American Field Service USA (New York, NY) | MS |
| Wildlife Epidemiologist | Wildlife Conservation Society (Nanaimo, Canada) | PhD |
Private (16.9%)
| Position | Employer (City, State) | Degree Level |
|---|---|---|
| Associate | Synapse Energy Economics Inc (Cambridge, MA) | MS |
| Attorney | Somach Simmons & Dunn (Sacramento, CA) | MS |
| CEO | Leaguevine Inc. (Chicago, IL) | MS |
| Co-Founder/Director of Business to Business Development | SnowShoeFood LLC (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Co-Owner | Crossroads Community Farm, LLC (Cross Plains, WI) | MS |
| Director, Environmental Health and Safety | Goodrich Corporation (Charlotte, NC) | PhD |
| Energy and Sustainability Consultant | Shaw Environmental Inc (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Environmental Scientist/Consultant | Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc (Sheboygan, WI) | MS |
| Environmental Specialist | Booz Allen Hamilton (Seattle, WA) | MS |
| Farm Manager | Sommers’ Harvest Farm (Hamilton, NY) | MS |
| Landscape Designer/Project Manager | Larry Weaner Landscape Associates (Glenside, PA) | MS |
| Learning Designer | LeapFrog Enterprises (Emeryville, CA) | PhD |
| Manager of Regulatory Affairs | Alliant Energy (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Owner | MDRoffers Consulting LLC (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Owner/Botanist | Trillium Environmental, LLC (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Principal | Cronin Energy Analysis, LLC (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Principal Ecologist | Adaptive Restoration LLC (Mt Horeb, WI) | MS |
| Program Manager | Digital Map Products (Irvine, CA) | MS |
| Project Manager | TecMarket Works (Oregon, WI) | MS |
| Research Analyst | Franklin Energy Services, LLC (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Restoration Specialist | Biologic/Adaptive Restoration LLC (Mt Horeb, WI) | MS |
| Senior Director of Sustainability, Corporate Environment, Health and Safety | Baxter International Inc. (Deerfield, IL) | PhD |
| Vice President, Technology | TermSync, Inc. (Fitchburg, WI) | MS |
| Wilderness Instructor and Guide | Wildlands Studies (Hotchkiss, CO) | MS |
University Staff (20.5%)
| Position | Employer (City, State) | Degree Level |
|---|---|---|
| Aquatic Invasive Species Communications Specialist | UW-Extension (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Assistant Scientist | UW-Madison (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Assistant Teaching Professor in Rural Sociology | University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, MO) | PhD |
| Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives | Univ of Louisville (Louisville, KY) | PhD |
| Associate Outreach Specialist | UW-Madison, Dept of Agronomy: Water, Sustainability and Climate research program (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Associate Scientist | UW-Madison: Environmental Resources Center (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Co-Director & Environmental Studies Specialist | UW-Extension (Green Bay, WI) | PhD |
| Cooperative Education Faculty | Northeastern University (Boston, MA) | MS |
| Curatorial Assistant II | Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cambridge, MA) | MS |
| Director | Washington State Univ – Center for Sustaining Ag & Nat Resources (Wenatchee, WA) | MS |
| Instructor | Univ of Colorado Honors Program (Boulder, CO) | MS |
| Lecturer | UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Managing Editor, Human Pathology | Dept of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UW-Madison (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Natural Sciences Instructor | Leech Lake Tribal College (Cass Lake, MN) | PhD |
| Outreach Specialist | UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Outreach Specialist | WI School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers, Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, UW-Madison (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Post Doctoral Research Associate | Univ of Vermont, Dept of Pathology (Burlington, VT) | PhD |
| Postdoctoral Associate | Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) | PhD |
| Postdoctoral Researcher | Univ of Minnesota, Inst on the Environment (St Paul, MN) | PhD |
| Professor of Practice & Co-Director of Energy Policy, Law and Governance | Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) | PhD |
| Research AssociatePostdoctoral Research Associate | Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) | PhD |
| Research Fellow | Univ of Minnesota, Inst on the Environment (St Paul, MN) | PhD |
| Research Scientist | Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, UW-Madison (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Senior Cartographer | Comm & Envir Soc, UW-Madison (Madison, WI) | PhD |
| Senior Commercial Analyst | University of Alaska-Fairbanks (Fairbanks, AK) | PhD |
| Senior Outreach Specialist | UW-Madison’s Nelson Inst for Env Studies (Madison, WI) | MS |
| Special Projects-Academic Sustainability Initiatives; Adjunct faculty in Envir St | Univ of St Thomas (St Paul, MN) | PhD |
| Visiting Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies | The College of Wooster (Wooster, OH) | MS |
| Wetland Scientist | Rhode Island Natural History Survey (Kingston, RI) | MS |