Water Resources Concentration

The Water Resources concentration engages students in coursework for developing ecologically sound and economically efficient water management policies and programs. Water is essential to life and is a critical resource that needs careful management to sustain human populations and ecosystems. Students will develop skills in understanding and applying concepts to manage water resources with applications related to ecosystem impacts, water quality, climate change, storm water, and water supply. A problem-solving approach will be used to develop a systems-based and multidisciplinary perspective. Students will gain in depth understanding and skills related water quantity and quality, hydrology, economics, and management. Water issues and approaches related to local, regional, and global scales will be explored.

Additional courses required for the concentration:

GEO-SCI 131 Experiencing Geology, GEO-SCI 285 Environmental Geology, NRC 528 Forest and Wetland Hydrology NRC 597P Water Resources Management and Policy NRC 597R Watershed Science and Management NRC 597W Wetlands Assessment and Field Techniques

Plus one elective from the following: EDUC 555 Introduction to Statistics and Computer Analysis I, NRC 534 Forest Measurements, NRC 577 Ecosystem Modeling and Simulation, NRC 529G Geographic Information Systems and 597G Lab, STATISTICS 501 Methods of Applied Statistics, MATH 127 Calculus I

Note: All students need at least 120 credits to graduate – please check your ARR in SPIRE

^a Intro Environment elective – NRC 100 preferred (SI, fall), NRC 185 (I, spring), ENVIRSCI 101 (BS, fall) accepted

^b Intro. Bio. elective - BIO 151 & 152 (153 lab optional), or STOCKSCH 108 (f) & BIOL 110 (s)

^c Earth Science elective –GEOLOGY 101 (f,s), 103 (f,s), 105 (f,s), GEOGRAPH 110 (f), or ENVIRSCI 390A

^d Built Environment elective –NRC 275 (f), BCT 150 (f), GEOGRAPH 372, SUSTCOMM 125 or 574.

^e Statistics elective – NRC 240 preferred, RESECON 212, STAT 111, STAT 240, or STAT 501 (f,s)

^f Ecology elective – ENVIRSCI 214 preferred (s), NRC 547, 566, 590IE, or BIOLOGY 287 (f,s) accepted

^g Plant/Animal ID elective – Take either NRC 212 Forest Tree & Shrub ID (2 cr, fall) or

           NRC 211 Wildlife Sampling & ID (2 cr, spring)

^h Quantitative elective – Upper level statistics [STATS 501 (f,s), EDUC 555 (f)], NRC 577 (Ecological Monitoring, f), NRC 534 (Forest Measurements, f even years), or MATH 127 (Calculus) or other – discuss with advisor

ⁱ Communication elective options - NRC 492A (f), or COMM 118, 121, 122, 125, 140, 211, 250, 260, 297, COMP-LIT 290T, ENG 379, JOURNAL 201 or 292N 

*NOTE*- many COMM courses are for freshman/sophomores only!

^j Resources Economics elective – RES-ECON 263 (f) or RES-ECON 262 (s)

^k Physical Sci elective – CHEM 112, 250 (s), PHYSICS 100 (f,s), 118 (f), 131, ASTRON 100, 101, 105

^l Water electives I and II –

At least 2 of the following (or other water courses with approval):         # Credits

• ENVIRSCI 315 Principles of Environ. Tox. & Chem.                    3
• STOCKSCH 375 Soil and Water Conservation (f, even yrs.)          3
• GEO-SCI 519 Aqueous Environ Geochemistry                              4
• GEO-SCI 587 Hydrogeology                                                        3
• NRC 576 Water Resources Mgmt & Polcy                                    3
• NRC 590AE Aquatic Ecology                                                      4
• NRC 597W Wetland Assessment and Field Techniques                 2
• ECO 678 Advanced Watershed Science and Management              3*
• * = graduate course needing Instructor’s approval and an Adjustment to ARR memo

^m Integrated Experience elective – NRC 382, 394EI, 494EI, 494GI or 494JI, or ENVIRSCI 445 (s) or 494JI – offerings vary each semester

Concentration Contact