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Careers

Graduates of the Environment and Resources masters and Ph.D. programs are employed in many different types of positions by a wide variety of organizations including governmental and non-govermental agencies, private industry, universities, and others. The graph below shows the distribution of employers for masters students.

Environment and Resources Careers Pie Chart

Gray Square Continuing Education - 4.1%

Teal Square Faculty Position - 11.8%

Purple Square Government - 19.9%

Yellow Square Non-Profit/NGO - 12.8%

Red Square Other - 24.8%
Includes retired, homemaker, self employed, etc.

Gray Square Private Industry - 16.0%

Green Square University Staff - 10.5%


The tables below show a sampling of the types of positions that Environment and Resources graduates have held and contain data from the ER alumni directory (self-reported by alumni; names, addresses withheld). The information is sorted according to the type of employer (eg., federal, state agencies, private sector, etc.) and may include entry through senior-level positions. The complete alumni directory (hard copy) is available in the Nelson Institute Academic Programs Office.

Faculty Positions

Position Employer (City, State) Degree Level
Ast. Prof. in Urban Planning University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS) Ph.D.
Ast. Prof./Ex. Director Univ. of Alaska/Earth Energy (Anchorage, AK) Ph.D.
Director and Asst. Prof. Inst. of Agrarian Studies, U of Philippines (Houghton, MI) Ph.D.
Director of the Reclamation Program UW-Platteville (Platteville, WI) Ph.D.
Environmental Science Teacher - 9th Grade Lancaster Mennonite High School (Lancaster, PA) M.S.
Forestry Dept. University of Montana (Missoula, MT) M.S.
GIS Specialist University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras (San Juan, PR) M.S.
Instructor University of Nebraska (Omaha, NE) M.S.
Instructor-Biology, CBSD, Enviro Sci MATC (Madison, WI) M.S.
Lecturer Vietnam National University, ICF (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam) Ph.D.
Professor College of Nat. Resources, UW-Stevens Point (Stevens Point, WI) Ph.D.
Professor Int Islamic Univ Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Ph.D.
Professor Universidad Michoacana de San Nicholas de Hida (Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico) Ph.D.
Professor UW Extension/Engineering (Madison, WI) Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility UW-Madison: Soil Science/Nelson Institute (Madison, WI) Ph.D.
Professor in Landscape Architecture Trisakti University (Jakarta Barat, Indonesia) Ph.D.

Government Positions

Position Employer (City, State) Degree Level
Program Co-Director and Associate Conservation Scientist Wildlife Conservation Society - Lao Program (Vientiane, Lao PDR) Ph.D.
Program Manager, Env. Information Dept. Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, IL) M.S.
Project Officer ORD/NCER (Washington DC) Ph.D.
Public Health Advisor WA Office Agency for Toxic Sub. & Disease Regis (Olympia, WA) M.S.
Public Health/Education Specialist Cty Of Philadelphia Health Dept. (Philadelphia, PA) M.S.
Rate Analyst Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (St. Paul, MN) M.S.
Recycling Program/Unit Leader WI DNR (Madison, WI) M.S.
Register of Deeds Dane County (Madison, WI) M.S.
Researcher Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow, and Landscpae Research (Brimensdorf, Switzerland) Ph.D.
Research Coordinator (Organic) USDA-Economic Research Service (Washington DC) M.S.
Research Social Scientist USDA Forest Service (Chicago, IL) Ph.D.
Restoration Division Manager Santa Ana Pueblo (Albuquerque, NM) M.S.
Scientist National Research Council of Thailand (Bangkok, Thailand) Ph.D.
Senior Research Officer, Science and Tech. Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies (Mandara, Harare, Zimbabwe) Ph.D.
Social Scientist/Science Assistant National Science Foundation (Arlington, VA) Ph.D.
Staff to Asst. Minister of Env. Planning Jakarta (Jakarta, Indonesia) Ph.D.
State Sustainable Agriculture Organizer Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (East Troy, WI) M.S.
Teacher Oconomowoc Area School District (Oconomowoc, WI) Ph.D.
Team Leader-Special Assignments Bureau for Remediation & Redevelopment (Madison, WI) M.S.
Urban Wildlife Specialist WI DNR (Madison, WI) M.S.
Research Hydrologist USGS (Nashville, TN) M.S.
Waste Management Specialist DNR of WI, Bureau for Remediation (Madison, WI) M.S.
Waste Management Specialist (Brownfields) WI DNR (Madison, WI) M.S.
Water Quality Specialist U.S. Soil Conservation Service (Hillsboro, OR) M.S.
Wetland Ecologist Idaho Natural Heritage Prog., TNC (Oroville, CA) M.S.
WI DNR Bureau of Air Managment WI DRN (Madison, WI) M.S.

Non-Profit/NGO

Position Employer (City, State) Degree Level
Member Peace Corps (Ecuador) M.S.
Program Analyst Conservation Services Group (Fall River, MA) M.S.
Project Director Nature Conservancy of Madison, WI (Baraboo, WI) M.S.
Project Manager Camp Desser & McKee, Inc. (Chicago, IL) M.S.
Regional Coordinator For the Sake of the Salmon (Ventura, CA) M.S.
Senior Energy Systems Specialist Resource Management Associates (Madison, WI) M.S.
Water Quality Planner Nez Perce Tribe (Lapwai, ID) M.S.
Project Manager Energy Center of WI (Madison, WI) M.S.
Researcher International Crane Foundation (Baraboo, WI) Ph.D.
Researcher Council on Economic Priorities (New York, NY) M.S.
Researcher & Education Specialist Coop. Development Services & Organic Alliance (Madison, WI) Ph.D.
Science and Policy Fellow National Academies, National Research Council (Washington DC) M.S.
Secretary Valley Land Fund (Northampton, MA) M.S.
Transportation Analyst 1000 Friends of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) M.S.
Vice President; Assoc. Regional Mngr. Trust for Public Land (Tucson, AZ) M.S.
Watershed and Outreach Specialist Dane County Natural Heritage Foundation (Madison, WI) M.S.
Wetland Policy and Conservation Specialist Wisconsin Wetlands Association (Madison, WI) M.S.
Project Leader Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (Fort Collins, CO) M.S.

Private

Position Employer (City, State) Degree Level
Reservoir Engineer Greater Point McIntyre Area (Anchorage, AK) M.S.
Sales Ladke Assoc. (Edina, MN) M.S.
Scientist, Project Coordinator Gala Design Inc (Middleton, WI) Ph.D.
Senior Analyst GeoAnalytics (Madison, WI) Ph.D.
Senior Analyst Wisconsin Legislative Council (Madison, WI) M.S.
Senior Analyst Madison Gas & Electric (Madison, WI) M.S.
Senior Associate Pacific Rim Resources (Portland, OR) M.S.
Senior GIS Analyst Bowne Management (New York, NY) M.S.
Senior GIS Analyst Patrick Engineering Inc. (Lisle, IL) M.S.
Senior Project Manager GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. (Pewaukee, WI) Ph.D.
Sr. Associate Land & Water Resources Associates in Rural Development (Burlington, VT) Ph.D.
Staff Attorney Environmental Law & Policy Center (Chicago, IL) Ph.D.
Staff Attorney Huber, Laurence & Abell (New York, NY) M.S.
Staff Attorney US Senate (Washington, DC) Ph.D.
Staff Veterinarian (DVM) Willowbrook Wildlife Center (Glen Ellyn, IL) M.S.
Strategic Planning ENTERGY (New Orleans, LA) M.S.
Supervising Engineer Union Electric Co. (St Louis, MO) M.S.
Supervising Environmental Planner Parsons Brinckerhoff (Orange, CA) Ph.D.
Vice President The Canyon Group (Madison, WI) M.S.
Weather Anchor WKBT La Crosse (La Crosse, WI) M.S.
Wetland Ecologist New England Environmental Associates (Concord, NH) M.S.

University Staff

Position Employer (City, State) Degree Level
Project Manager UWSP Center for Watershed Science & Education (Stevens Point, WI) Ph.D.
Research Assistant Ecological Society of America (Washington, DC) M.S.
Research Associate University of British Columbia (Vancouver, CANADA) Ph.D.
Research Biologist Nat. Resource Ecology Lab, Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) M.S.
Research Coordinator K-12 Energy Educ. Program, UW-Stevens Point (Stevens Point, WI) M.S.
Research Fellow Imperial College, London (Berkeley, CA) M.S.
Manager Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station, SE Louisisana University (Hammond, LA) Ph.D.
Science Teacher Lubbock Plains College (Austin, TX) M.S.
Scientific Engineering Associate Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab (Berkeley, CA) M.S.
Senior Research Associate Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) Ph.D.
Senior Student Services Coordinator Nelson Institute, UW-Madison (Plain, WI) M.S.
Sr Devlpmt Skills Spc UW-Madision,Intercollegiate Athletics (Madison, WI) Ph.D.
Sr. Outreach Specialist UW-Extension, Nutrient and Pest Management(Madison, WI) M.S.
Watershed Education Specialist UW-Extension (Baraboo, WI) M.S.

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