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. 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.

Options Available

The program offers the following options:

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

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Describe ecological processes, including human impacts that influence ecosystem change, natural succession, and the future sustainability of natural resources.
2. Characterize natural resources and be able to quantify at least one of these resources.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with audiences of diverse backgrounds.
6. Work effectively with, and within, interdisciplinary and diverse groups to resolve management problems and achieve management objectives.

Requirements

The program requires a minimum of 180 credits, including:

• Major Requirements (67-70 credits)
• Baccalaureate Core (48-51 credits)
• Specialty Option (37 credits)
• Electives (26-30 credits)

Course List

The following courses are required for the major:

• FES 485: Consensus and Natural Resources
• NR 201: Managing Natural Resources for the Future
• NR 202: Natural Resource Problems and Solutions
• NR 455: Natural Resource Decision Making
• Advanced Communication course (select one from the list)
• Biological Sciences courses (select one group from the list)
• Chemistry course (select one from the list)
• Climate Science course (select one from the list)
• Earth or Soil Science course (select one from the list)
• Ecology course (select one from the list)
• Mathematics and Statistics courses (select one from the list)
• Resource Management courses (select one from each category)
• Social and Political Dimensions courses (select one from each category)
• Spatial Analysis course (select one from the list)

Specialty Option

A Specialty Option is required for the Natural Resources major. The Specialty Option for the Natural Resources major is an additional 37 credits (minimum) with at least 20 upper division credits. The Specialty Option has a required minimum GPA of 2.25. Up to 6 credits of internships, projects, or study abroad can be used to fulfill requirements in the Specialty Option.

Plan of Study

The plan of study for the Natural Resources Undergraduate Major (BS, HBS) is outlined below:

• First Year: Fall (15 credits), Winter (15 credits), Spring (16 credits)
• Second Year: Fall (15 credits), Winter (15 credits), Spring (15 credits)
• Third Year: Fall (15 credits), Winter (15 credits), Spring (15 credits)
• Fourth Year: Fall (14 credits), Winter (15 credits), Spring (15 credits)