Concentration Areas

The Natural Resources and Environmental Science program offers students a science-based curriculum with breadth and depth in concentration areas. Students majoring in NRES will attain a background in environmental policy, chemistry, biology, ecology, and economics. Depth will be acquired in one of the following concentration areas, specifically designed to provide specialization areas for our NRES students:

Air Quality
This concentration exposes students to concepts of meteorology, climate change, and atmospheric pollution. Although it is our most academically challenging concentration area, students choosing Air Quality will be rewarded with a spectrum of career choices after graduation.

Environmental Policy and Analysis
Economics and environmental policy are two of the stronger drivers of the management of our environment. Understanding these foundational subject areas is key to progress. Students selecting this concentration will receive in-depth understanding of regulations, environmental law, and economics.

Land Resources
This specialization area covers a broad range of subjects from soil pollution, erosion, landscape management, and ecological restoration. Because graduates of this area tend to enter environmental consulting as a vocation, this is our most popular concentration.

Water Quality 
Water is one of our most precious resources, and students in this concentration will attain an understanding of how to manage water properly. Specific subject areas include water pollution, aquatic ecology, and managing water distribution.

Emerging Environmental Challenges
New, critical areas of environmental study emerge rapidly, and niche areas can be attractive to some students. To allow flexibility in our assignment of concentration areas, we allow students to develop their own.