General Information

The School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences (SNRAS) offers you the opportunity to combine Peace Corps service with university graduate study to pursue a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources Management. Peace Corps Volunteers who are accepted for graduate admission will work with SNRAS faculty to select two semesters of courses prior to beginning their two-year Peace Corps Volunteer assignment. Courses are selected by the student and their advisory committee based on their undergraduate experience, degree requirements, and particular interests of the student. Upon completion of the Peace Corps Volunteer assignment, students return to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) to finish their master’s degree requirements. The program is designed to meet individual student needs while taking into consideration the degree requirements and the needs of the Peace Corps host country.

Admission Requirements

To qualify for the Peace Corps Master’s International Program, students must meet the admission requirements for the University of Alaska Fairbanks master’s degree program and the requirements established by the Peace Corps for volunteer service. Students usually apply for the Peace Corps and for graduate school concurrently, but in some cases students already enrolled in a M.S. program in Natural Resources Management will be allowed to apply to the Peace Corps during their first semester of graduate study.

For acceptance into the Natural Resources Management M.S. program, you should have a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree in a discipline that can be applied to natural resources management. If you have no prior courses related to the natural sciences and resource management, your advisory committee will help you to select courses to enhance your background. All applicants must take the GRE exam. While students are normally expected to have at least a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) in their undergraduate degree coursework, we sometimes accept students with a lower GPA if other parts of their application are strong. We accept applications continuously and students may begin in fall, spring, or summer semesters.

Focus Areas

Students can pursue several areas of interest within the UAF Natural Resources Management M.S. degree, including Horticulture, Soil Science, Agronomy, Animal Science, Forest Ecology, Silviculture, Resource Economics, Land Planning, Parks/Recreation Management, Resource Policy, and others. For more information, please visit our webpage at http://www.uaf.edu/snras/students/grad_degree.html

During Peace Corp Service

After completing your initial course work and receiving your Peace Corps placement, you will travel to your respective site and begin training. Once overseas, you are given an assignment according to the needs and requests of your host country. Participating faculty recognize that while overseas, your primary responsibility is the project and community to which you have been assigned. Rather than determining a research topic in advance, you should allow your volunteer assignment to shape your academic requirement.

Your academic requirement may be a thesis or a project paper, under the direction of your faculty and with the approval of Peace Corps overseas staff. You must be flexible and, in some cases, creative when transforming your volunteer service into your graduate work
The University will provide a 6-credit tuition waiver for each Peace Corps Master's International student during their two-year Peace Crops service. This allows students to maintain their active student status during their Peace Corps assignment. It is important that students enrolled in this program feel connected and supported by the University as they share their international experience.

Contact Information

Please contact Susan Todd about questions regarding potential graduate studies in natural resources management in combination with the Peace Corps Master’s Program. If you have questions regarding graduate admissions procedure, you can contact Dave Veazey.

Tony Gasbarro, UAF emeritus faculty in extension forestry and the UAF campus-wide coordinator for the MI program can offer insight regarding Peace Corps work and answer questions about integrating Peace Corps service with a graduate degree. Tony has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer two separate times.

(All images appear courtesy of Peace Corps)