Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
John Harrington, Jr., Director
201 Dickens Hall
785-532-6727
www.ksu.edu/nres
The natural resources and environmental sciences secondary major prepares students to apply broadly-based scientific knowledge to the use, management, sustainability, and quality of soil, air, water, mineral, biological, and energy resources. The NRES program offers a timely and relevant academic emphasis to broaden the environmental perspective students receive in their primary major.
Government, corporate, and public concerns about natural resource and environmental issues abound. These concerns translate into career opportunities for individuals with interdisciplinary training on how humanity affects global functions.
Because natural resource and environmental issues tend to be so extensive and complex, they exceed the scope of any single discipline. Students in the NRES secondary major study environmental issues from a wide base of academic viewpoints. Involvement with students and professors from other disciplines adds skills typically required in environmental careers.
Enroll by appointment with the director or by electronic form on the webpage
Requirements
I. Entry requirements
Students must successfully complete the following courses to become eligible to pursue the NRES secondary major. One course in the entry or block elective requirements must qualify as a life science course.
a. Four basic science courses (or their more advanced equivalent), and
MATH 100 College Algebra
 CHM 110 General Chemistry or CHM 210 Chemistry I
PHYS 113 General Physics or PHYS 115 Descriptive Physics, or PHYS 101 and PHYS 103 The Physical World and lab.
ECON 110 Principles of Macroeconomics or ECON 120 Principles of Microeconomics
b. Two of the following basic NRES courses. These courses must be from different departments and total a minimum of 6 credits.
AGRON 305 Soils
AGRON 335 Environmental Quality
BIOL 198 Principles of Biology
BIOL 210 General Botany
CE/BAE 551 Hydrology
FOR 285 Introduction to Forestry
FOR 375 Introduction Natural Resource Management
GEOG 220 Environmental Geography I
GEOG 440 Geography Natural Resources
GEOL 100 Earth in Action
GEOL 105 Oceanography
GEOL 115 Environmental Geology
GEOL 125 Natural Disasters
II. Block elective requirements
From the following lists, students must successfully complete a minimum of 5 courses (15 hours minimum) from at least four departments. One course must be taken from each of the designated areas (natural, applied, and social sciences/humanities), two courses must be numbered 500 or greater, and three courses must have a prerequisite. These lists are continuously being revised, See the director for the most recent version.
Natural science courses
AGRON 305 Soils
AGRON 515 Soil Genesis and Classification
BIOL 433 Wildlife Conservation
BIOL 529 Fundamentals of Ecology
BIOL 612 Introduction to Limnology
BIOL 687 Microbial Ecology
GEOG 221 Environmental Geography II
GEOG 535 Fundamentals of Climatology
GEOL 305 Earth Resources
GEOL 399 The Mountain Environment
GEOL 506 Geology and Environment
GEOL 520 Geomorphology
GEOL 711 Water Resource Geochem.
GEOL 611 Hydrogeology
LAR 322 Environmental Issues and Ethics
Applied science courses
AGRON 330 Weed Management
AGRON 335 Environmental Quality
AGRON 501 Range Management
AGRON 635 Soil Conservation and Management
AGRON 645 Soil Microbiology
AGRON 746 Physical Properties of Soil
ATM 558 Soil Erosion/Sed. Pollution
ATM 653 Irrigation Practices
ATM 661 Water and Waste in the Environment
BAE 521 Energy in Biological Systems
BAE 530 Natural Resources Engineering
BAE 651 Air Pollution Engineering
BAE 690 Non-Point Pollution Engineering
BAE 705 Irrigation and Drainage
BIOL 303 Ecology of Environmental Problems
BIOL 684 Wildlife Management
BIOL 696 Fisheries Management
CE/BAE 551 Hydrology
CE 552 Hydraulic Engineering
CE 563 Environmental Fundamentals
CE 565 Waste and Wastewater Engineering
CE 766 Wastewater Engineering/Biological Processes
CHE 650 Hazardous Waste Engineering Seminar
CHE 715 Biochemical Engineering
EVET 230 Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology
EVET 270 Hazardous Waste Management
GEOG 705 Remote Sensing of Environment
GEOL 730 Petroleum Geology
GEOL 605 Exploration Geophysics
RRES 575 Management of Water Resources
Social science/humanities courses
AGEC 525 Natural Resources and Environmental Economics
ECON 527 Environmental Economics
ENGL 680 Environment in American Literature
GEOG 440 Geography Natural Resources
GEOG 718 Geography of Public Lands
GEOG 720 Geography of Land Use
GEOG 725 Geography of Water Resources
GEOG 730 World Agricultural Systems
GEOG 760 Human Impact on Environment
GEOG 770 Perception of Environment
HIST 511 Environmental History
HIST 563 Global Environmental History
LAR 720 Public Lands and Natural Resource Law
LAR 741 Environmental Law
LAR 758 Land Resource Information Systems
LAR 759 Land Resource Evaluation
PHILO 595 Environmental Ethics
PLAN 315 Introduction to Planning
PLAN 590 Problem Planning: Solid Waste Management
SOCIO 536 Environmental Sociology
SOCIO 701 Environment and Development in Latin America
III. Capstone course requirement
All students must successfully complete the NRES capstone course. This course should be scheduled during the senior year.
DAS 582/DEN 582/GENAG 582 Natural Resources/Environmental Sciences Project
University general education credit.
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