When Allison Davenport decided to attend the University of Idaho”s College of Natural Resources as a freshman, she said she had no idea how good the program was. What sold her on the decision, she said, was the beautiful campus and the kindness of the faculty members she met.
It wasn”t until later that Davenport realized exactly what she”d signed up for – by the time USA Today published a list ranking the best natural resources programs in the country, though, she wasn”t surprised how UI fared in the rankings.
Of approximately 50 natural resources programs nationwide, UI”s College of Natural Resources was ranked No. 1 for value and No. 11 for quality.
After a day of meeting incoming freshmen, Dean Kurt Pregitzer said students from across the country came to UI for the program”s notable alumni, affordable price and the beautiful backdrop of the Palouse.
“When you think about Idaho, you think about mountains and rivers and beautiful lakes,” Pregitzer said. “People are attracted to Idaho to study natural resources because of the beautiful landscapes in the state.”
Pregitzer said that in the program, educators emphasize three things: job experience, real world experience and research experience. According to him, the program offers more paid internship opportunities than they have students to fill them.
Davenport, who discovered her passion for agriculture and rangeland studies on her high school”s Future Farmers of America team, said her favorite part of the program has been in turn being able to mentor current FFA students.
“I love working with FFA,” Davenport said. “It”s important to me that they just kind of think about their future and give it a little bit of thought about what they want to do and research, and making sure they”re not just letting their futures go with the wind.”
Within the program, Davenport has also been able to cultivate her passion for plants. She said she loves that plants are able to produce their own food, and that they”re often resilient enough to bounce back from grazing and fires. As nerdy as she claimed that is, Davenport said she”s in good company.
“Everybody loves the environment,” Pregitzer said. “People want clean water and clean air, and people aren”t happy when there”s smoke in the atmosphere.”
The management of natural resources and the environment is an ever-increasing challenge, Pregitzer said, because more and more people demand natural resources.
“Everything in this room, and in every building on campus, came from a natural resource,” he said.
If anything was confirmed during orientation activities, Pregitzer said that across diverse backgrounds and interests, this is what incoming freshmen and their returning cohorts are drawn by.
“They can get a really high quality education for a reasonable price in a beautiful place,” he said.
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @itshannah7