Contemporary conservation is faced with the complex challenges of a changing climate, increasing resource needs, fragmented ownership of land, and disparate values, making it critical that we train students to analyze and negotiate the inevitable trade-offs that must occur to achieve sustainable conservation outcomes. No single academic discipline or field of practice can adequately address these challenges, and it is necessary to bring the insights of multiple disciplines and fields of practice to bear on conservation research in a holistic and integrative way.
The mission of the Integrative Conservation (ICON) PhD program is to confront the challenges of conservation research and practice by training agile scientists. The program immerses students in real-world scenarios, training them to be conversant across a range of disciplines, helping them develop collaboration skills, enabling them to move easily between the worlds of academia and practice, and teaching them to productively link analysis and application in seeking innovative solutions.
The ICON PhD program is administered by the Graduate School, and coordinated by the Center for Integrative Conservation Research (CICR), with Areas of Emphasis in Anthropology (PHD_ICON-ANTH), Ecology (PHD_ICON-ECOL), Forestry and Natural Resources (PHD_ICON-FANR), Geography (PHD_ICON-GEOG), and Marine Sciences (PHD_ICON-MARS). Graduates of the program should be qualified for teaching, research, or applied employment opportunities. Requirements for the PhD degree include satisfactory performance on written and oral comprehensive examinations, and an approved dissertation.
Students are admitted and begin the PhD program only during Fall semester. No new admissions are permitted in the Spring semester. Prospective students must complete the application process by December 1.
Dr. Kyle Maurice Woosnam Director of Graduate Studies woosnam@uga.edu Dr. Jesse Abrams Director of Graduate Studies, ICON Phd Program iconphd@uga.edu