Academics > Majors and Areas of Study > Forestry & Environmental Management



Thiel College participates in a cooperative program with the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Through this program, highly qualified students can earn a bachelor’s degree at Thiel and a master’s degree at Duke in five years.

Students in the program complete three years of course work at Thiel, which includes the curriculum required of all students (the Integrative Requirement and the major), the prerequisites for admission to Duke, and a total of 94 credit hours.  Prospective students must apply for admission to the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke by February 1 of the junior year. Upon successful admission and completion of two semesters of residency at Duke in which 30 semester units of credit are earned, the student is awarded a bachelor’s degree from Thiel. After an additional two semesters of successful study at Duke and completion of a total of 48 semester units of credit are earned, a student may receive either Master of Forestry (M.F.) or a Master of Environmental Management (M.E.M.) degree.

Students may also choose to earn the bachelor’s degree at Thiel. These students may apply for admission to the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke as candidates for either the M.F. or M.E.M. degree. Both degrees require four semesters and 48 semester hours of credit.

The Master of Environmental Management degree focuses on the following programs of study: coastal environmental management, conservation science and policy, environmental economics and policy, ecosystem science and management, global environmental change, and water and air resources.  The Master of Forestry degree develops experts on sustainable management of forest ecosystems.  Students may also choose to enter certificate programs in either energy and environment or geospatial analysis.

The emphasis in all areas is on quantitative methods of analyzing problems, defining objectives, and devising and testing management alternatives.  This scientific and analytical background has enabled graduates of the school to attain and excellent record of placement in a variety of forestry and resource management positions with government, industry, consulting firms, universities, and non-profit organizations.

Prerequisites for admission to the M.E.M. and M.F. programs include a strong background in the area of physical or social sciences relevant to the area of interest, one semester of college level calculus, and one semester of college level statistics. Each must be passed with a grade of a B minus or better.  Additional prerequisites may be necessary for each program of study. 

Interested students should consult the Thiel adviser to this program, Dr. Michael Balas, Department of Biology. For additional information on this program, please consult the Nicholas School’s web site.