New minors developed to meet changing needs of CAFNR students and marketplace
by Whitney Gray, posted April 1, 2008
Many students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources increase their marketability and depth of knowledge by completing a minor in addition to their major area of study. Of the 19 minors offered by the College, the minor in sustainable agriculture and the minor in captive wild animal management are relatively new and were created to meet the changing needs and interests of CAFNR students.
Sustainable Agriculture Minor
The minor in sustainable agriculture was created after some Missouri farmer groups approached the College saying the school needed to develop a curriculum to prepare students for careers in sustainable and alternative agriculture production and marketing.
“Sustainable agriculture means farming systems that are environmentally friendly, economically viable and socially acceptable,” said Sandy Rikoon, professor of rural sociology and chair of the committee that developed the minor.
While the minor suits students with an interest in starting their own farm and growing alternative crops, it is also appropriate for those who want to learn about community food systems and the link between food and nutrition.
There are two tracks within the minor, the production track and the community food systems track.
“The production track is for people who want to develop regional products, local products, and sell them directly to consumers,” Rikoon said. “They want to make a living practicing sustainable agriculture, which is more of a biological sciences, animal sciences, or plant sciences track.”
The community food systems track is focused more on consumer issues.
“The general population is becoming more concerned about food systems, where people get their food and the link between food and nutrition,” Rikoon said. “This track is more for students who aren’t going to be producers, but are interested in the consumer side.”
In the upcoming fall semester of 2008, students can expect courses team-taught by teachers from different disciplines. Some of those courses, depending on the chosen track, will involve field trips to places such as the food bank, food pantry, farmer’s market, and surrounding farms.
Possible funding from USDA could bring new opportunities for students wanting a minor in sustainable agriculture.
“Our hope is to develop a student farm out at Bradford Research and Extension Center,” Rikoon said. “If we can get the student farm going we’ll be able to have our internships out at the farm, both production internships and research internships for undergraduates.”
Captive Wild Animal Management Minor
CAFNR added the captive wild animal management minor because of students’ growing interest in learning about exotic animals, exotic animal husbandry, and management of exotic animals. This minor is a combination of courses from animal sciences and from fisheries and wildlife along with the recently created captive wild animal management courses.
Even though the wild animals focused on in this minor are in captivity and not in the wild, it doesn’t make them any less valuable as a topic of study.
“While they’re not in the wild, the wild today is ever-changing and it’s becoming less and less all the time unfortunately,” said Trista Strauch, coordinator of the minor. “As that changes, to some extent, the value of animals that are in captivity is even higher as more and more of them disappear in the wild.”
A background in the basics of animal sciences is an important element of the minor.
“The animal sciences side is going to teach management,” Strauch said. “How we manage their nutrition, how we manage their reproduction, how we manage and understand their genetics to make appropriate matings.”
Strauch also mentioned that while the field of captive wild animal management is competitive, employers from the Association for Zoos and Aquariums Organization (AZA) are always wanting to hire students with the type of experience the minor offers.
Depending on the specific job you want, such as zoo keeping or rehabilitation, employers are looking for people with the type of experience offered with this minor.
For more information
If you are a student interested in learning about these two minors further, you can contact Sandy Rikoon at rikoonj@missouri.edu about the sustainable agriculture minor and Trista Strauch straucht@missouri.edu about the captive wild animal management minor.
