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Why Natural Resource Ecology?
Ecology, at its essence, is about understandig the beauty and complexity of the web of life. The discipline focuses on the processes and connections that link animals and plants with their abiotic surroundings across levels of organization. Ecologists draw on theory, quantitative modeling, qualitative analysis of complex systems, and rigorous field work to address ecological restoration, how and why landscapes change, invasive species management, and other challenging issues. At the University of Idaho, the Natural Resource Ecology degree is intensely interdisciplinary, drawing from the management-oriented degrees currently offered in the Colleges of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences, as well as other related programs throughout the University. Students in the program may work at scales ranging from genes to landscapes, while integrating the social and biophysical worlds. Understanding ecological processes and interconnection presents endless challenges, but can be enormously rewarding.
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