Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-2540 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu

 

For Immediate Release

 

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor

Phone: (307) 766-3571

E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

 

Date: Feb. 13, 2007

 

UW a leading institution in agroecology

            The University of Wyoming is one of the nation’s leading institutions in agroecology, with 100-percent job placement, according to an associate lecturer and adviser in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Plant Sciences.

            “We’re pulling students from all over the country,” Dave Wilson said.

            UW was the first university in the country to form an agroecology degree program. Shared between the Department of Plant Sciences and the Department of Renewable Resources, it started in 1992 and has been growing since.

            “Agroecology offers a more broad-ranged curriculum than agronomy, and we had more than 50 agroecology students this year,” Wilson said.

            He emphasized every agroecology graduate has found employment in a degree-related field.

            “The degree is broad-based enough students have a lot of choices,” he said. “Some end up working for the government. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) hires agroecology students for grazing or timber management, while some work for the Bureau of Land Management.”

            He added, “Other graduates are employed by private companies as crop consultants, crop inspectors, golf course and greenhouse managers, landscapers and sales representatives. Some return to the family farm.”

            Employers may never be able to fill all their positions with students who have an agricultural background, but Wilson is confident all UW agroecology graduates will find work in their fields.    

            There are approximately 20 to 30 agroecology college programs around the country now, and more are being added because of the demand for agroecology majors and current emphasis on sustainable agriculture, he said.

             Students take a broad range of classes such as organic chemistry, horticulture, entomology, plant pathology, weed science, animal science, agricultural economics, biology/ecology and soils.

            “This makes many students attractive for extension educator and research positions,” Wilson said. “The program is very flexible with large blocks of upper-division electives and makes possible from one to three minors, allowing specialization.”

            Students are required to complete at least one internship before graduation.  

            “We believe it gives them a leg up over those students who have never had any field or job experience, and it lets them test the waters to see what kind of job they would like to do,” explained Wilson. 

            The internships are always paid, and the students sometimes get free room and board. Many students have worked for Servi-Tech, Crop Quest, Wyoming Weed and Pest, USFS and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). 

            “Very rarely are my interns paid less than $10 per hour, and most are offered positions with the company they interned with,” Wilson said. “That says a lot for the caliber of interns we are producing.”

Wilson explains the NRCS is one of the department’s favorite federal agencies to place interns with because it hires sophomores who typically intern for two summers with a guaranteed job upon graduation. 

While the trend of non-traditional fields of work such as urban horticulture and landscaping is growing, there are still ranchers who have a great deal of knowledge about cattle but need experts to help them understand the best methods of growing feed for their livestock, explained Wilson. 

            “Good-quality forage and crops are the basis for high-quality livestock,” he said.

            For more information on the UW agroecology program, call the Department of Plant Sciences at (307) 766-3103, or visit www.uwyo.edu/Plants/aecl/agroecology.htm.

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