Blaze Your Trail

Land, water and people are deeply interconnected. The Terrestrial and Freshwater Environments (TFE) concentration prepares students to solve boundary-spanning challenges between land and water, science and management, and environment and society. 

We help students develop professional skills and interdisciplinary knowledge through a flexible curriculum in natural and integrative sciences. A broad menu of courses — such as hydrology, forest and freshwater ecosystems or spatial ecology, as well as urban ecosystems, restoration ecology, water finance or human-wildlife conflict — allows students to chart their own path. This flexibility works exceptionally well for students pursuing joint degrees within the Master of Environmental Management program. 

Concentration Courses

Core courses - Required

Most of the courses below are 3 credits except where noted. Required courses include one natural science course and one integrative science course, plus two additional courses from either natural or integrative sciences: 

Natural Sciences

  • ECS 511—The Climate System 
  • ENVIRON 714—Landscape Ecology
  • ENVIRON 732—Hydrology in Environmental Management 
  • ENVIRON 734—Watershed Hydrology 
  • ENVIRON 743—Food Web Theory 
  • ENVIRON 503—Forest Ecosystems
  • ENVIRON 517—Tropical Ecology 
  • ENVIRON 744—Freshwater Ecosystems
  • ENVIRON 564—Biogeochemistry 
  • ENVIRON 721—Soil Resources 

Integrative Sciences

  • ECS 550—Climate and Society 
  • ENVIRON 646—Urban Ecology
  • ECS 524—Water Quality Health 
  • ENVIRON 501—Environmental Toxicology 
  • ECS 525—Ocean and Freshwater Pollution 
  • ENVIRON 703—Conserving the Variety of Life 
  • NV 617—Restoration Ecology 
  • ECS 570—Geohazards and Disaster Risk

 

Elective Course Suggestions

The Nicholas School offers a wide variety of environmental social sciences that can enhance and shape TFE curricula, such as:

  • ENVIRON 835—Environmental Law 
  • ENVIRON 577—Environmental Politics 
  • LAW 320—Water Resources Law (2 credits)
  • ENVIRON 520, 521—Resource and Environmental Economics I, II (1.5 credits each); or ENVIRON 520, 680—Resources and Environmental Economics I, Economics of Forest Resources (1.5 credits each)
  • ENVIRON 550—Land Use Principles 

 

Expectations

Coming in: In addition to the school-wide prerequisites in calculus and statistics, which are required for all concentrations, to be successful in the TFE concentration, It is strongly recommended that students have a solid foundation in environmental natural science (e.g., ecology, geoscience, environmental science) or environmental social science (e.g., geography, environmental studies) prior to enrolling.

Depending on student interests and goals, such preparation might include coursework in ecology, environmental engineering, or geosciences. It is strongly recommended that students have one semester of Principles of Ecology or similar (200- or 300-level) course in environmental science and one advanced undergraduate course in ecology, earth systems science or related environmental science. Our flexible program allows students to broaden and deepen expertise regardless of their prior educational background. 

During the program: You will develop skills and tools for the assessment, conservation and restoration of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Examples include measuring forest carbon stocks, tracing water pollutants to their sources, and evaluating the effects of habitat loss and restoration on wildlife populations. Your coursework, research projects and internships will provide a range of opportunities for tailoring these skill sets to meet your career goals.

 

Fiona Price

I chose TFE because of how all-encompassing it is. I came to grad school without a clear path forward but with a passion for enhancing the relationship between communities and their surrounding ecosystems. TFE allows me to connect all of my interests - ecology, biology, social equity, and community-based management - and explore multiple paths for affecting change with respect to humans and their environment."

–Fiona price, MEM'26

Transferable Skills

In this concentration, students will gain skills in:

  • Systems thinking
  • Project design 
  • Adaptive management
  • Human-environment interactions

Through their curriculum design, students will gain specific skills in focal areas such as: 

  • Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem assessment
  • Landscape analysis and scaling
  • Habitat restoration 
  • Climate impact analysis
  • Floodplain and wetland delineation
  • Pollutant source attribution
  • Ecosystem services assessment
  • Wildlife monitoring
  • Reserve design
  • Hazard assessment

 

Knowledge Gained

Students can craft a course curriculum to deepen and broaden their knowledge in areas as diverse as:

  • Climate dynamics
  • Watershed hydrology and biogeochemistry 
  • Environmental finance
  • Human-wildlife conflict
  • Urban environments
  • Soil resources
  • Landscape ecology
  • Food systems 
  • Ecosystem services and nature-based solutions
  • Biodiversity

 

Enrich Your Experience

Terrestrial and Freshwater Environments students will find a wide range of opportunities to expand their academic experience and get connected to projects and people that align with their interests. We recommend exploring these programs to get started: 

  • Stanback Fellowship Program (partnership between the Nicholas School and nonprofit organizations)
  • (university initiative based at the Nicholas School)
  • (student organization)
  • (student organization)

 

Career Pathways

The TFE concentration prepares graduates for a variety of roles — from local to international — across every sector of environmental management. Some alumni follow traditional careers in conservation science, working as hydrologists, biologists, resource managers and spatial analysts. Others find positions as facilitators, organizers or public communicators, as project managers, or as sustainability strategists and officers. Simply put, there is no typical TFE career path.

Our alumni follow diverse career paths with local, state or federal governments; local, national or international NGOs; environmental consulting firms; small startups in environmental entrepreneurship; and major international corporations.

Examples have included a climate adaptation specialist for the California Governor’s Office; a biologist for the National Park Service; an ecological risk assessor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; a watershed protection specialist for Yadkin Riverkeeper; an engagement specialist for supply chains at the World Resources Institute; a water resources engineer at WSP; and a project developer at Lightshift Energy, to name a few.
 

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