Conservation and Restoration Ecology (CARE) Major

Learn:

Learn employable skills to design and implement effective restoration and conservation strategies for natural areas and landscapes affected by the oil and gas, mining, forestry and agricultural industries.

"I remember thinking when I first started at Lakeland ..'I wonder if this diploma will get me anywhere?' I am pleased to say that it has gotten me exactly where I want to be.”
Sabrina Michaud, 2006 grad

Watch an overview of the CARE program on YouTube

Live The Learning:

You'll spend a substantial amount of time in the field doing the things you learn about in the classroom.

This is made possible through a number of partnerships with industry and goverment professionals who make their workplaces available to our students for field tours, applied projects and living laboratories.

View a photo gallery of the CARE classroom and check out detailed graphic tours of field tips and field tours including ones to Jasper and Grasslands national parks, a strip mine, public lands and wetlands.

You'll learn employable skills including:

how to ID over 300 species of native and non-native plants plus birds and amphibians

proper techniques for collecting soil and water samples, for soil restoration and for re-establishing plant communities

how to classify soil and current practices for soil conservation

mapping and ArcView GIS skills

how to conduct ecological health assessments

wetland management and restoration techniques

Check all the applied skills

The Lakeland Advantage:

"I had a great experience at Lakeland College and formed some really close friendships. I would strongly recommend the CARE program to anyone who wishes to a explore a career in the environmental sciences." Camille Scheibner, Class of 2006

CARE accepts a maximum of 20 students each year - small class sizes and lots of one-on-one instruction.

Develop the skills you need to get a job - the CARE program emphasizes hands-on learning

100% of CARE graduates have either started their careers in the environmental industry or have chosen to pursue a degree here or elsewhere

100% of CARE gradates say they are confident that they have the knowledge and skills they need to start a career

92% of CARE graduates were either satisfied or very satisfied with this program and that they would recommend it to others.

Live Your Career As A

The range of environmental careers is expanding based on growing demands from the public, industry, government and regulatory bodies. From habitat restoration, wetland management and species-at-risk recovery to land reclamation, plant inventory work, and site assessment, accountability is demanded and global environmental responsibility is expected. As a CARE program student, you’ll be part of that effort.

"I found CARE to be an extremely rewarding program that provided me with an awesome foundation in the skills that I needed to pursue my career in the environmental field. The extensive time spent in the field labs is one of the reasons that I chose Lakeland College and this particular program." Pam Brown, 2005 grad

Salary potential: The Government of Alberta recently conducted an Alberta Wage and Salary Survey and discovered that jobs related to the environmental industry are paying between $44,800 and $136,000 per year with an average salary of $87,600.

Check out where our graduates have found jobs (and some other cool links too).

Continue Your Learning With:

After you graduate you can stay at Lakeland College and take another environmental sciences major, or take our Bachelor of Applied Science program

Or, you can transfer to a university. CARE graduates have gone on to:

The University of Alberta - either Land Reclamation or Biodiversity Conservation
The University of Saskatchewan - Environmental Science or Soil Science
The University of Lethbridge - Environmental Science

Other universities are possible, just check out our transfer agreements.

Last updated on

Campus Location
Vermilion Campus

Program Length
2 Years

Current Project

Featured WADE Canada project

Lakeland College's renewable energy applied research is currently a feature project of WADE Canada. WADE is the World Alliance for Dencentralized Energy. Our energy cabin demo site and the renewable energy conservation program are two of the main features of Lakeland's work to date. Plans are to do more. Lakeland is hoping to do a lot more through proposed NSERC College and Community Innovation Program funding.