Program Overview

Natural Resources Undergraduate Major (BS, HBS)

The Natural Resources Undergraduate Major (BS, HBS) is an interdisciplinary program administered by the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. This program is available at the following locations: Corvallis, Ecampus, and OSU-Cascades.

Overview

Students who graduate with a BS degree in Natural Resources from OSU should be able to integrate technical field or laboratory skills with analytical skills to solve critical natural resource problems. The curriculum is designed to help students acquire knowledge about a range of natural resource issues, work in interdisciplinary teams, and deal with social and political aspects of resource management.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:

• Describe ecological processes, including human impacts that influence ecosystem change, natural succession, and the future sustainability of natural resources.
• Characterize natural resources and be able to quantify at least one of these resources.
• Envision desired future conditions in an area to achieve a set of natural resource-related objectives, prescribe management actions needed to achieve those objectives, and evaluate success of these actions.
• Describe how the use, management, and allocation of natural resources are affected by laws, policies, economic factors (both market and non-market), and characteristics (including demographic, cultural, ethnic, and "values" differences) of private and public resource owners and users.
• Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with audiences of diverse backgrounds.
• Work effectively with, and within, interdisciplinary and diverse groups to resolve management problems and achieve management objectives.

Requirements

The program requires a total of 180 credits. The requirements include:

• Interdisciplinary Foundations: FES 485, NR 201, NR 202, NR 455
• Advanced Communication: Select one course from a list of options
• Writing Intensive Course: Select one course from a list of options
• Biological Sciences: Select one group of courses from a list of options
• Chemistry: Select one course from a list of options
• Climate Science: Select one course from a list of options
• Land Science: Select one course from a list of options
• Water Science: Select one course from a list of options
• Ecology: Select one course from a list of options
• Mathematics and Statistics: Select one course from a list of options
• Resource Management: Select courses from options in Animal Science, Plant Science, Aquatic Ecosystems, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Environmental Assessment and Planning, and Social and Political Dimensions
• Specialty Option: A minimum of 37 credits, with at least 20 upper-division credits
• Remaining Core Ed and Electives: 35-52 credits

Specialty Options

The program offers the following specialty options:

• Conservation Law Enforcement
• Ecological Restoration
• Environmental Disaster Management
• Fish and Wildlife Conservation
• Forest Ecosystems
• Human Dimensions in Natural Resources
• Individualized Specialty
• Landscape Analysis
• Natural Resource Education
• Policy and Management
• Urban Forest Landscapes
• Wildland Fire Ecology

Plan of Study

A sample plan of study is provided, outlining the courses to be taken each term for four years. The plan includes:

• First Year: WR 121Z, Chemistry, Mathematics, Core Ed: Transitions, and other courses
• Second Year: NR 201, Climate Science, Economics, Core Ed: Arts & Humanities General, and other courses
• Third Year: Biological Sciences Course I with Lab, Statistics, Core Ed: Arts & Humanities Global, and other courses
• Fourth Year: FES 485, Specialty Option Course, and other courses

Major Code

The major code for the Natural Resources Undergraduate Major (BS, HBS) is 671.