NRECE Certificate Program

Our Program

The Natural Resources and Environmental Communication and Engagement Post-Baccalaureate Certificate (NRECE) Program is administered by the Department of Environment and Society, S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources. The Department of Environment and Society is an interdisciplinary department focused on research, outreach/extension, and teaching on human-environment interactions; it supports community engagement in research, outreach, and learning and is USU-designated as a community-engaged department.

 

The NRECE Program provides an opportunity for, and certification of, knowledge and skill-building in environmental communication and community engagement. Program outcomes focus on a broad range of communication strategies within the knowledge and action domains of natural resource management and the socio-ecological and environmental sciences. The program emphasizes a modern, interactional approach to collaborating and partnering with relevant communities and entities, with a more critical perspective on improving how environmental science communication occurs. Curriculum draws on a suite of courses with communication and engagement content both within and beyond the Department of Environment and Society.

Curriculum

The certificate curriculum consists of three components, for a total of 14-16 credits:

1. Four courses (for a minimum of 10 credits) with communications and/or engagement content from an approved list of course options
2. One departmental seminar course (1 credit) that introduces a range of environmental science topics
3. A three-credit capstone requirement met either through a communication, engagement, or outreach component of the student’s master's thesis or doctoral dissertation or through an independent project, whichever works best for the student.

Course descriptions are available on the NRECE - Catalog page.

Admission Requirements

For admittance into the NRECE Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program, a graduate student must:

1. Be accepted by the School of Graduate Studies at Utah State University for graduate study (current or provisional)
2. Meet with the NRECE Program Director to discuss personal interest in completing the NRECE Certificate with respect to professional goals.