Field methods associated with ground water and contamination assessments.

Ecosystem biogeochemical processes, the organism-environment interactions that regulate them, and natural resources management strategies that explicitly consider ecosystem structure and function.

How physical processes in climate and environmental systems - such as atmospheric motion, hydrological processes and transport of atmospheric constituents - are represented in numerical models. Topics include classification of numerical models, steps in climate and environmental (mathematical) modeling, conservation theories of mass and energy, mass balance equations, numerical techniques, and initial and boundary conditions.

An overview of climate change adaptation science including knowledge, principles, and applications of adaptation practices, technologies, tools, and strategies. Topics include the scientific evidence of anthropogenic climate change, climate change impacts on our lives and society, two-way relationships between climate change and humans, and multiple approaches applied in adaptation across diverse sectors (agriculture, forestry, fisheries, etc.) from local to regional and global scales. Emphasis on the fundamental concepts of climate change adaptation science, different disciplinary perspectives and interconnections, and its effectiveness, limitations, and future needs.

Explores social-ecological systems, including relationships between ecosystem services and human well-being and livelihoods; introduces systems theory for understanding disturbance, feedbacks, thresholds, directional change, adaptation and resilience in social-ecological systems; includes applied case studies in sustainable agriculture, fisheries, forestry, freshwater, marine, and wildlife.

Aspects and methods of decision making for individuals, organizations, and institutions, including structured decision making, adaptive resource management, and organizational learning; concepts and techniques for managing risk and uncertainty, model-based and experience-based approaches to link alternative actions and consequences, tradeoff and optimization approaches, and monitoring and evaluation of resulting outcomes.

Methods and techniques for effective communication with diverse audiences using written, spoken, and digital media; includes conflict resolution, crisis situations, persuasion, negotiation, marketing and advocacy.

Introduction to collecting, managing, displaying, and analyzing geospatial data. Topics include coordinate systems, finding and using existing sources of geospatial data, analysis of vector and raster data, creating geospatial data with remote sensing, concepts of Global Positioning System (GPS), topographic and landscape analyses, and spatial interpolation.

Principles of environmental planning with application to human health, natural areas, working landscapes, and built environments; basis and context for planning, including laws, regulations, zoning, compliance, uncertainty, and risk management.

Introduction to the marine environment and associated environmental, social, and economic issues. Topics include marine ecology and ecosystem services, human drivers of change and trends related to the ocean, ocean-based industries and activities, coastal and marine pollution, ocean policy and law, sustainable use of living marine resources, and ecosystem management strategies to aid conservation efforts.

Organizational leadership strategies for adopting sustainability practices to develop a culture of sustainability and a commitment to advancing environmental, social, and economic benefits for multiple stakeholders, (e.g., employees, partners, society, and the environment). Viewed through an interdisciplinary lens, students will examine challenges and opportunities that organizations face in various sectors, covering topics such as pollution prevention, circular economy, “triple bottom line,” “greening” the supply chain, UN SDGs, key performance indicators (e.g., customer satisfaction, return on investment), and assessment of progress toward achieving sustainability goals, among other topics. Case studies and practical applications will be emphasized.

An introduction to all aspects of water quality problems relating to the many beneficial uses of water, including the physical, chemical, and biological properties. Taught with NRE 4255.

The application of ecological principles as practiced by natural resource agencies throughout North America.

A broad overview of stream ecology will be presented. Topics covered will include stream habitats and the diversity of organisms which inhabit them, adaptations to life in running water, and energy flow and nutrient cycling in stream ecosystems. Efforts targeted at the conservation of streams will be integrated throughout the semester. One or more field trips required. Instructor consent required. Taught with NRE 4205.

Introduction to the current state of environmental toxicology knowledge and research. Relevant concepts in ecosystem science, toxicology, and public health are taught within the framing of historic and current case studies of environmental contamination problems. Term paper and presentation are required.

How population dynamics models are used in science and in the management of fish and wildlife populations, factors influencing population dynamics. Design, evaluation, and use of a population model. Students will complete activities in the R scripting language. Taught concurrently with NRE 4370.

The current state of wetlands research and field methods used to quantify wetland vegetation, hydrology, and soils. Discussions of the primary literature will be complemented by field trips to a variety of wetlands to implement field techniques and explore wetland natural history, classification, biogeochemistry, and responses to anthropogenic stressors.

Interdisciplinary focus on the effect of landscape pattern on environmental processes and conditions and the influence of disturbance and underlying geomorphology on landscape pattern. Consideration of landscape ecology principles in planning and management of pattern and processes in which conservation and production land uses are intermingled.

Introduction to remote sensing theory and practice. Includes electromagnetic radiation, spectral reflectance, earth observation platforms and sensors, image processing methods, and multidisciplinary applications.

A variety of related topics that include the physical processes involved in remote sensing and various image processing methods. The labs will be primarily focused on how to use image processing software (e.g., ENVI) to analyze satellite imagery.

Quantitative remote sensing methods for solving real-world problems, and methods for quantitative analysis of remotely sensed imagery plus various remote sensing applications.

Introduction to high-resolution remote sensing data and collection platforms. The first half of the course focuses on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) including operations, data collection, and post-processing of acquired data. Topics include laws, safety, and ethical considerations; mission planning, sensor selection, and photogrammetric processing of the collected data in commercial software. The second half of the course focuses on the fundamentals of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and applications of LiDAR in mapping and environmental analysis. Topics include LiDAR point-cloud visualization and interpretation, creation of digital elevation and surface models, and feature extraction using ArcGIS and LAS Tools.

GIS scripting techniques in Python for geospatial analyses, enabling students to pursue integrated research in earth resources data geoprocessing applications.

Develop proficiency in fundamental data analytic techniques in the R scripting language commonly used in environmental science and engineering with applications spanning practice and research. Topics include: trend detection, numerical approaches to model fitting, cluster analysis, and introductory machine learning methods.

Overview of ecosystem modeling science including knowledge, principles, and applications as a tool for sustainable resource management, conservation, and global environmental change. Topics include ecosystem concept, hydrologic and biogeochemical pathways, changes through space and time, global ecosystem dynamics, the status and role of modeling in ecosystem sciences, the modeling process, and applications of ecosystem models. Emphasis on the conceptual terrestrial-ecosystem model development to be used as a basis for studying specific research questions in the context of global changes, and its effectiveness, limitations, and future needs.

Advanced topics in the field of natural resources. Topics and credits to be published prior to the registration period preceding the semester offerings.

Study and discussion of readings (journal articles, books, current research) on a selected topic in natural resources.

Weekly meetings focused on recent advances in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, including departmental seminars and/or discussions of scientific literature.

Integrate core concepts of the Energy and Environmental Management program with planned and supervised experience in the public or private sector. Students complete an internship or research project that applies knowledge and skills, gains professional experience, and builds networks with prospective employers.

Application and synthesis of core concepts of the Energy and Environmental Management program with project-based work in student’s area of emphasis.

General research techniques, writing scientific articles and grant proposals, problem solving approaches, experimental design and modeling concepts, and research ethics.

Students will develop proficiency in fundamental modeling principles used to describe watershed hydrology and various associated ecosystem functions. Topics include ecohydrology focusing on catchment water and energy balances, hydrologic modeling (potential evapotranspiration, snow accumulation and melt, soil moisture, plant growth, surface runoff), forest-water modeling, introduction to model sensitivity and calibration techniques, application of tracers in ecohydrology, issues in parameterized hydrologic model climate-transferability, and basic R scripting.

Doctoral students in the Natural Resources: Land, Water, and Air program take primary teaching responsibility for a course under the supervision of a faculty liaison.

Designed for Ph.D. students in natural resource and associated environmental fields. Provides students with experience in individual and collaborative grant and funded-project proposal writing. Students will gain an overview of federal, state, and private funding organizations, and familiarity with the proposal review process. By the end of the course, students will have developed a draft grant or funded-project proposal targeted to a current request for research proposal (RFP/RFA) or other ongoing funding program relevant to their disciplinary expertise.