Program Overview

Natural Resources (NR)

The Department of Natural Resources and the Environment offers a Master of Science program that provides advanced, research-based study in the ecology, biogeochemistry, economics, policy, and management of vital natural resources, including water, soil, forests, wildlife, and agricultural crops.

Degree Offered: M.S., Certificate

This program is offered in Durham. Students take an interdisciplinary approach to their research and use the tools of the natural and social sciences, including geospatial methods, to make fundamental and significant contributions toward local, regional, and global sustainability.

Possible Career Trajectories

Some graduates pursue private sector environmental and social science consulting. Others seek positions in planning, environmental protection, research, or resource management with federal or state agencies, private industry, or with non-governmental organizations. Graduates from the environmental economics option may also find careers in agribusiness or banking. Graduates may choose to pursue advanced study at the doctoral level.

Program Options

Students may choose to specify one of six options:

NATURAL RESOURCES: Ecosystem Science

• Students in the Ecosystem Science option typically have a strong background in environmental science, earth science, ecology, or related fields.
• Areas of interest include the ecology, microbiology and biogeochemistry of soils, groundwaters, and surface waters, with an emphasis on how the different components of an ecosystem interact to produce system-level responses to management, global change, and other perturbations.

Natural Resources: Environmental Conservation and Sustainability

• Students in the Environmental Conservation and Sustainability option typically have a BS/BA degree or strong background in environmental and natural resource sciences with a keen interest in combining the natural sciences with the social sciences.
• Areas of interest include natural resource policy, conservation biology, sustainability, ecological ethics and values, international environmental affairs, and spatial data analysis (remote sensing and GIS).

Natural Resources: Environmental Economics

• Most entering students have a BA/BS in economics or environmental/agricultural economics.
• Incoming students should have, at a minimum, coursework in intermediate microeconomic theory, econometrics, and calculus.
• Areas of interest include agricultural economics, community and regional economics, land economics, water economics, and environmental economics.

Natural Resources: Forestry

• Students in the Forestry option typically have an undergraduate degree in forestry or natural resource management.
• These degrees are specifically designed to meet the accreditation standards of a professional society.
• Areas of interest include forest resource economics and management, biometrics/measurements, forest health, forest ecosystem dynamics, and spatial data analysis (remote sensing and GIS).

Natural Resources: Wildlife and Conservation Biology

• The MS option in Wildlife and Conservation Biology is typically pursued by those with a BS in Wildlife, Biology, Zoology, Environmental Studies, or related field.
• Research often takes an integrated field-laboratory approach to study population ecology and conservation, community and landscape ecology, conservation biology and genetics, and applied wildlife management issues.

Natural Resources and the Environment

• The Natural Resources and the Environment option is available to students whose research interests and program of study do not align well with one of the five discipline-specific options.

Admission Requirements

Prior to submitting an application, applicants should contact one or more graduate faculty advisors to discuss programs and funding, and secure a commitment of a faculty member to serve as graduate advisor.

• Applicants are expected to have completed either an undergraduate degree in the field in which they plan to specialize or show adequate preparation in the basic support courses of the field.
• Students with good undergraduate records who lack a background in a particular field may be admitted to a program, provided they are prepared to correct any deficiencies.
• All entering students must have taken at least one basic statistics course.
• Applicants have the option to submit current scores (within five years) from the general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
• GRE scores are not required.

Course Offerings

The program offers a wide range of courses, including:

• NR 803 - Watershed Water Quality Management: Principles of land use as they relate to water quality and quantity.
• NR 806 - Soil Ecology: Examines the ecological relationships between soil microorganisms and their biotic and abiotic environment.
• NR 807 - Environmental Modeling: Introduces students to a range of key mathematical and computer modeling concepts and the ways they can be used to address important scientific questions.
• NR 808 - Environmental Economics: Environmental pollution, the market economy, and optimal resource allocation.
• NR 820 - International Environmental Politics and Policies for the 21st Century: Students examine policies for managing human activities to sustain the health of regional ecosystems and planetary life-support systems.
• NR 824 - Resolving Environmental Conflicts: Theories and practices of environmental dispute settlement.
• NR 829 - Silviculture: The science and art of establishing, growing, and tending forests to meet multiple objectives.
• NR 830 - Terrestrial Ecosystems: Processes controlling the energy, water, and nutrient dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems.
• NR 831 - Agriculture and Environmental Change: Challenges and Solutions: Agriculture is the foundation of civilization, providing the food, fuel and fiber needed to sustain a growing human population.
• NR 834 - Tropical Ecology: This course introduces students to the ecology of different tropical ecosystems.
• NR 840 - Inventory and Monitoring of Ecological Communities: Provides an introduction to the major concepts associated with monitoring change in ecological communities.
• NR 843 - Addressing Arctic Challenges I: Students will gain knowledge on the effect of climate change on Arctic environmental, social, and built systems.
• NR 844 - Biogeochemistry: Examines the influence of biological and physical processes on elemental cycling and geochemical transformations.
• NR 845 - Forest Management: Forest land ownership; management objectives; forest inventory regulation and policy.
• NR 849 - Forest Inventory and Modeling: Applied sampling and statistical techniques for assessing current forest conditions and predicting future growth, yield, and structure.
• NR 851 - Aquatic Ecosystems: Energy flow and nutrient cycling in streams, rivers and lakes.
• NR 857 - Remote Sensing of the Environment: Practical and conceptual presentation of the use of remote sensing and other geospatial technologies for mapping and monitoring the environment.
• NR 859 - Digital Image Processing for Natural Resources: Introduction to digital remote sensing, including multispectral scanners, radar, and thermal imagery.
• NR 860 - Geographic Information Systems in Natural Resources: This course in geographic information systems (GIS), covers advanced theory, concepts, and applications of GIS for natural resource and related disciplines.
• NR 861 - Environmental Soil Chemistry: Chemical transformations in soils are the basis for soil fertility and plant productivity in natural and managed ecosystems.
• NR 881 - Agroforestry: This course introduces students to the principles and practice of agroforestrythe integration of trees with crops and/or livestock to provide multiple benefits.
• NR 882 - Forest Health: Forests cover over 30% of the land surface of the Earth and are incredibly important ecologically, economically, and to the health of the planet.
• NR 887 - Advanced Topics in Sustainable Energy: This course will engage students in advanced topics in sustainable energy.
• NR 899 - Master's Thesis: Master's Thesis.
• NR 900 - Teaching Assistantship Practicum: This course covers best practices, norms, and expectations in performing the duties of a teaching assistant.
• NR 903 - Approach to Research: Provides incoming graduate students with an overview of the scientific method, peer review, and various research approaches and methods.
• NR 905 - Grant Writing: The ability to secure financial support for research and outreach activities is becoming increasingly important.
• NR 909 - Analysis of Ecological Communities and Complex Data: This course introduces you to a suite of tools appropriate for analyzing and interpreting multivariate data arising from agroecological (and other ecological) research.
• NR 911 - Natural and Environmental Resource Management: Fundamental economic, aesthetic, and ethical principles involved in the management of natural resources.
• NR 913 - Hierarchical Modeling in Ecology: This course uses modern Bayesian statistical modeling approaches to analyze ecological data, with an emphasis on applied hierarchical models.
• NR 914 - Data Analysis for Natural Resources and Ecology: Principles and practices of data analysis, with application to experimental and observational studies.
• NR 947 - Ecosystem Science: Theory, Practice, and Management Applications for Sustainability: This course is designed for graduate students to explore in detail the fundamental principles and practical application of ecosystem science.
• NR 965 - Community Ecology: This course investigates how community properties -- species richness, and abundance distribution -- are influenced by evolutionary history, landscape phenomena such as dispersal and migration, and local factors such as the physical environment, disturbance, competition, predation, and positive interactions.
• NR 977 - Just Maps: Cartographies of Environmental Justice: Maps are ubiquitous.
• NR 993 - Natural and Environmental Resources Seminar: Presentation and discussion of recent research, literature, and policy problems in the natural and social sciences influencing resource use.
• NR 995 - Investigations: Investigations in Natural Resources may include topics in environmental conservation, forestry, soil science, water resources, and wildlife management.
• NR 996 - Natural Resource Education: Responsibilities include set-up, teaching, and grading of one lab section per week or equivalent lecture experience.
• NR 998 - Directed Research: Student designs and conducts original research that culminates in a paper of publishable quality.