Dec 03, 2024  
2024-2025 University Catalog 
    
2024-2025 University Catalog

Cultural and Environmental Resource Management Program


College of the Sciences
Ellensburg
Fax: 509-963-1047
https://www.cwu.edu/academics/resource-management/

Program Coordinator
Megan Walsh, PhD
Department of Geography
Dean Hall, room 308
509-963-3699
Megan.Walsh@cwu.edu

Professors
Clay Arango, PhD, stream ecology, forest-stream connectivity, human role in stream nutrient cycling
Kevin Archer, PhD, environmental policy, city and regional development and planning, economic geography
John Bowen, PhD, transportation systems, economic development, human geography
Lisa Ely, PhD, geological sciences, fluvial geomorphology, quaternary geology, paleohydrology
Steve Hackenberger, PhD, archaeology, cultural resource management, cultural ecology, GPR
Patrick Lubinski, PhD, archaeology, cultural resource management, zooarchaeology
Pamela McMullin-Messier, PhD, demography, collective action, environmental justice, hazards, gender
Michael Pease, PhD, environmental law, water allocation and policy in the American West
Lene Pedersen, PhD, cultural anthropology, ecological, political, visual anthropology
Toni Sipic, PhD, economics, environmental economics, political economy, industrial organization
Megan Walsh, PhD, paleoecology, biogeography, wildfire, climate change, indigenous land management
Charles Wassell, PhD, economics, mathematical modeling of economic issues with policy implications

Associate Professors
Hope Amason, PhD, tourism studies, cultural and museum anthropology, sociocultural anthropology
Nicole Jastremski, PhD, biological and forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, mortuary analysis, paleopathology
Carla Jellum, PhD, recreation and tourism, public land management, sustainability and climate change
Jennifer Lipton, PhD, conservation, PPGIS/human ecology mapping, remote sensing, public land use/management
Rodrigo Rentería-Valencia, PhD, environmental anthropology, ritual and performance theory, indigenous studies
Craig Revels, PhD, cultural-historical geography, landscape, Latin America
Sterling Quinn, PhD, crowd-sourced mapping and GIS, critical cartography, Latin America

Assistant Professor
Claudia Wright, PhD, gender, migration, Latin America, qualitative research
 

Faculty from other departments participate in the program as graduate committee members.

Cultural and Environmental Resource Management, MS
Program: The program is interdisciplinary, emphasizing understanding of problems encountered in the management of both natural and cultural resources. It includes a basic core of 27 credits in resource management, courses in areas of interest and a specialty track in either natural resource areas (management of land, water, biotic, atmospheric, and energy resources) or cultural resources management (ethnographic and archaeological sites and materials, historic properties, and archives). An internship is recommended. Students must complete at least 60 credits as outlined in an approved course of study filed with the Office of Graduate Studies and Research. The course of study is selected by advisement before completing 25 credits.
Program Admission Requirements: In addition to general master’s degree guidelines for admission to master’s programs, applicants for admission must have the following qualifications:

  1. A solid background in a discipline closely related to the resources they expect to manage. Normally, a bachelor’s degree is required in a technical field such as one of the biological, Earth, or physical sciences, geography, engineering, archaeology, ethnology, history, or architecture. In some cases work experience may be accepted in lieu of a technical major. Before admission, program faculty will evaluate the academic coursework and experience of all applicants for admission, and will recommend remedial course work if, in their judgment, there are deficiencies in pre-baccalaureate work which need to be overcome before entrance into the program.
  2. A high proficiency in written and spoken English as well as potential for post-graduate study and research. Evidence of proficiency and potential may include: GRE scores, samples of previous writing, letters of recommendation, an interview.
  3. A good background in basic statistics (the equivalent of two quarters of undergraduate statistics), knowledge of microeconomic principles, and some knowledge of computer systems (the equivalent of a one-quarter undergraduate course).

Admission to the program and continuation in it may be conditional on the applicant’s satisfactory completion of remedial courses. Such courses will not count toward the program credit requirement but in some cases they may be taken after admission to the program.

Application Deadline and Materials: students must comply with all deadlines and procedures for “applying to CWU” in the graduate admissions section of this catalog.

Additional Information

Graduate Committee: The student will have at least a three-member graduate committee, to be selected in consultation with the program coordinator and the dean of Graduate Studies and Research.

Final Examination: Each candidate must pass a final oral examination on all phases of their program including the thesis and related coursework.

Thesis: Each candidate must successfully complete a thesis that involves original research undertaken within a literature context.

Course Offerings
Frequency of course offering information can be found at the department website: https://www.cwu.edu/academics/resource-management/ or by contacting the department directly.

Programs

    Master of Applied Science (M.A.S.)Master of Science (M.S.)

    Courses