6.54 Natural Resources Management

Natural Resources Institute
Director: C. Emdad Haque
General Office: 303 Sinnott Building
Enquiries: (204) 474-8373
Fax: (204) 261-0038
Email: nriinfo@umanitoba.ca
Website: umanitoba.ca/natural_resources
Graduate Program Assistant: Dalia Naguib

Academic Staff

Program Information
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) is one of the pioneering academic units in Canada active in natural resources and environmental management research and teaching. As such, it has contributed to the training of over 800 academics, professionals, administrators, and practitioners who are now active in the natural resources and environment fields in Manitoba and throughout the world, in both the public and private sectors.

The institute’s academic activities are interdisciplinary and are focused upon local and global problem solving linked to the strength and expertise of faculty members and the interests of students. Full-time faculty work closely with an outstanding cadre of adjunct professors from other university disciplines, from the universities of Brandon and Winnipeg, from several government departments (such as the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Manitoba Department of Conservation), as well as from non-governmental agencies and the private sector.

Natural resources and environmental policy and decision-making provide the context for most academic activities. NRI is noted for the identification of novel approaches to establish the necessary linkages between the environment, economy, and the social well being of people. Thus, the institute uses a three-dimensional approach to natural resources and environmental policy and decision-making as it continues to search for innovative solutions that will be good for the environment as well as for poverty alleviation.

This holistic interdisciplinary approach is pursued in teaching, research and outreach. The institute’s strength and expertise cut across a number of resource fields; human dimensions of natural resources management; natural resources policy; institutions, decision-making processes; water resource management; environmental hazards and risk assessment; climate change impact and adaptation; community based resource management; traditional ecological knowledge; habitat, wildlife, and ecological management and multi-stakeholder processes/public involvement; and conservation of biodiversity.

Institute faculty and students continue to make contributions to resources management locally, nationally and internationally. Locally: City of Winnipeg waste management; province of Manitoba water strategic plan; province of Manitoba sustainable development (SD) initiatives; wildlife habitat with Ducks Unlimited and Delta Waterfowl. Nationally: First Canadian national hazards research assessment; coastal zone management work, monitoring of project impacts; review of Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA). International: impacts of urban development in high mountains in northern India; co-management of resources in Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Turkey, Stewardship initiatives in the EU, in particular, in Germany;building environmental governance capacity in Bangladesh; international disaster prevention and mitigation; sustainable floodplain management in Bangladesh and Canada. The institute is the focal point at the University of Manitoba for interdisciplinary education, research, and outreach in resources and environmental issues. In the latter context the institute sees itself as having a major responsibility to the University of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg and to the Province of Manitoba in the solution of problems involving natural resources and the environment. Institute staff takes their obligation to assist in the solution of global problems just as seriously.

The master’s program in natural resources management combines a broad commitment to sustainability with development of well-focused, practical expertise in natural resources management. The program recognizes that pursuit of sustainability requires attention to ecological, economic, and social issues at all levels -from the local to the global. But it also expects that most gains are made through specific practical management application. Therefore, the program is designed around two main elements: an interdisciplinary examination of sustainability concerns and defined management project examinations undertaken in this broader context.

The doctoral program is aimed at developing independent researchers in the areas of natural resources and the environment. Students enter the program from a variety of academic backgrounds and disciplines.

Fields of Research
NRI’s graduate programs are interdisciplinary, responding to the need to educate professionals in integrative thinking and problem solving. The programs cut across conventional disciplinary lines to emphasize linkages between social and natural systems, environmental policy and decision-making. The research is focused on integrating the environment with the economy and the well being of people. Research areas include resource and environmental sustainability; environmental hazards and risk assessment; water resource management; climate change impact and adaptation; community-based resource management; wildlife habitat and landscape ecology; northern resources and development, ecosystem management, conservation of biodiversity, and multi-stakeholder planning and decision-making.

Research Facilities
Facilities on site include a fully equipped computer laboratory with appropriate software. Many of the NRI’s interdisciplinary research projects are carried out jointly with a variety of agencies in various locations. Recent projects include those with Manitoba Conservation, Manitoba Hydro, Manitoba Model Forest, the City of Winnipeg, Fisheries and Oceans Canada—Central and Arctic Region, Parks Canada, Ducks Unlimited, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development. A significant number of NRI projects are carried out cooperatively with First Nations and many are completed overseas with a variety of international agencies. For those research projects requiring physical facilities, students and faculty have access to the Delta Marsh Field Station, the Fort Whyte Centre and the Experimental Lakes Area of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Master of Natural Resources Management

Admission
Admission requirements are those of the Faculty of Graduate Studies found in the Graduate Studies Regulations Section of this Calendar.

Application Deadlines

Start Date		Canadian/U.S.	International
Regular	(September)	June 1	March 1

Program Requirements
Minimum program requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies are found in the Graduate Studies Regulations Section of this Calendar. Students in the Master’s program follow an individual study plan that includes 12 credit-hours of required courses, a minimum of 15 credit-hours of elective courses and a Master’s thesis.

The central academic agenda of the required set of courses includes: Assessment of the theoretical foundations and practical applications of progress toward sustainable management of natural resources; understanding of ecosystems as self-organizing and responding systems; examination of conventional and alternative social arrangements, including institutions and tools of governance, as a means of improving human well-being and environmental responsibility; and exposure to theories of resource and environmental management processes and tools.

Required courses for the Master’s program include NRI 7222, NRI 7232, NRI 7262, NRI 7182. Each required course requires consent of the instructor. Elective courses provide the opportunity for in-depth examination of different issues related to sustainable management of natural resources. Selection of elective courses by students will be aimed at strengthening particular areas of expertise. Students may choose electives from NRI or from other departments at the university.

Second language reading requirement: none

Expected time to graduate: two years

Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Environmental Management

This program provides studies in the environment and natural resources through a holistic and interdisciplinary approach. Students’ programs and research will prepare them to pursue independent research aimed at solving the complex issues facing the world environment learning about varied approaches and using a variety of tool and methods.

A hallmark of the program is the collaboration with other University of Manitoba academic units and other Manitoba universities through an extensive cadre of adjunct professors and cross-appointments. This cadre is further strengthened by the appointment of adjunct professors from a variety of agencies external to the University of Manitoba, including the Freshwater Institute, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Delta Waterfowl, and Ducks Unlimited, to name a few.

Admission
Admission to the program is as in the Faculty of Graduate Studies Regulations Section of this Calendar. An applicant should have a high academic standing in previous university work, a Master’s degree in a related discipline, as determined by the NRI Selection Committee, and an area of research interest that may be supported by an NRI faculty member. Students must be accepted by an advisor prior to submitting an application to enter the program. A 3.5GPA (or equivalent) in their most recent 60 credit hours of course work and evidence of scholarly ability are required.

Application Deadlines:

Start Date	Canadian/U.S.	International
Regular (September)	June 1	March 1

Program Requirements
All Ph.D. students will be required to complete a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 21 credit hours of course work at the 700/7000-level or above, beyond the Master's degree (or its equivalent). A minimum of 6 credit hours of courses must be completed within the Natural Resources Institute and must include NRI 7310 Ph.D. Thesis Research Seminar (3).

Individual programs of study will vary from student to student depending on each student’s research interest and the recommendations of each student’s advisor and Ph.D. advisory committee. Students will be encouraged to use the pool of Natural Resources Institute required and elective courses as well as appropriate graduate courses available outside of the Natural Resources Institute in order to select the best set of courses to complement their programs.

Student academic progress will be reported annually to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. A minimum Grade Point Average of 3.0, with no grade below C+, must be maintained in order to continue in the program.

The required course for the PhD program is NRI 7310.

Second language reading requirement: required only in special circumstances determined at the time of admission.

Expected time to graduate: three years