Kansas State University

Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
118 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506

 

785-532-6727
785-532-7310 fax
cwmgeog@k-state.edu 

NRES Academic Requirements

Basic Requirements

Students must successfully complete the basic entry courses in parts a., b., and c. to fulfill the NRES secondary major requirements.

  1.  Four basic science courses (or their more advanced equivalent).

    1. MATH 100 College Algebra (3)

    2. CHM 110 General Chemistry (4) or CHM 210 Chemistry I (4)

    3. PHYS 113 General Physics I (4) or PHYS 115 Descriptive Physics (4) or PHYS 101 and PHYS 103 The Physical World and Lab (4) or PHYS 213 Engineering Physics I

    4. ECON 110 Principles of Macroeconomics (3) or ECON 120 Principles of Microeconomics (3) or AGEC 120 Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness (3)

  2. Two of the following basic resource courses.  These courses must be from different departments and total a minimum of 6 credit hours.  Courses used to meet this requirement may not be used again as block electives.

    1. AGRON 305 Soils (4)

    2. AGRON 335 Environmental Quality (3)

    3. BAE 533 Applied Hydrology (3)

    4. BIOL 198 Principles of Biology (4)

    5. BIOL 210 General Botany (4)

    6. FOR 285 Introduction to Forestry (3)

    7. FOR 375 Introduction to Natural Resource Management (3)

    8. GEOG 221 Environmental Geography I (4)

    9. GEOG 340 Geography of Natural Resources (3)

    10. GEOL 100 Earth in Action (3)

    11. GEOL 105 Oceanography (3)

    12. GEOL 115 Environmental Geology (3)

    13. GEOL 125 Natural Disasters (3)

  3. One life science course.  This course may also be used to meet another requirement.

Block Elective Requirements

From this list, students must successfully complete a minimum of 5 courses (15 credit hours minimum) from at least 4 departments.  One course must come from each area (Natural Sciences, Applied Sciences, and Social Sciences/Humanities), two courses must be numbered 500 or greater, and three courses must have a prerequisite (courses without a prerequisite are listed in BOLD ITALICS).  Because these lists undergo periodic revision, you may want to check with the NRES Director for recent updates.

Natural Science Courses
  • AGRON 305 Soils (4)                                 
  • AGRON 515 Soil Genesis & Classification (3)      
  • BIOL 433 Introduction to Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology (3)             
  • BIOL 529 Fundamentals of Ecology (3)       
  • BIOL 612 Freshwater Ecology (4)
  • BIOL 642 Principles of Conservation Biology (3)      
  • BIOL 687 Microbial Ecology (3)   
  • CHM 315 Environmental Science (3)
  • ENTOM 250 Insects and People (3)   
  • ENTOM 312 General Entomology (2) 
  • ENTOM 313 General Entomology Lab (1) 
  • ENTOM 680 Aquatic Entomology (3) 
  • ENTOM 692 Insect Ecology (2)
  • GEOG 321 Environmental Geography II (4) 
  • GEOG 535 Fundamentals of Climatology (3)
  • GEOL 305 Earth Resources (3) 
  • GEOL 399 The Mountain Environment (3)
  • GEOL 506 Geology and Environment (3)
  • GEOL 515 Geology of National Parks (3)
  • GEOL 520 Geomorphology (2)
  • GEOL 540 Ice Ages & Environmental Change (3)
  • GEOL 611 Hydrogeology (3)
  • GEOL 711 Water Resource Geochemistry (2)
Applied Science Courses
  • AGRON 330 Weed Science (3) 
  • AGRON 335 Environmental Quality (3) 
  • AGRON 375 Soil Fertility  (3) 
  • AGRON 501 Range Management (3) 
  • AGRON 635 Soil Conservation & Mgt (3) 
  • AGRON 645 Soil Microbiology (3) 
  • AGRON 646 Soil Microbiology Lab (1)
  • AGRON 655 Site Specific Agriculture (3) 
  • AGRON 746 Physical Properties of Soil (3) 
  • ATM 558 Soil Erosion/Sed Pollution (3) 
  • ATM 661 Water/Waste in Environ (3) 
  • BAE 560 Natural Resource Engr. (3) 
  • BAE 533 Applied Hydrology (3)
  • BAE 620 Water & Waste in the Environment (1)
  • BAE 651 Air Pollution Engineering (3) 
  • BAE 660 Natural Resources Engr. II (3)
  • BIOL 303 Ecol. of Environ. Problems (3) 
  • BIOL 684 Wildlife Management and Techniques (3)
  • BIOL 696 Fisheries Management and Techniques (4)
  • CE 550 Water Resource Engineering
  • CE 552 Hydraulic Engineering (3)
  • CE 563 Environ. Engineering Fund. (3)
  • CE 565 Waste & Wastewater Engr. (3)
  • CE 625 Prin. Of Geoenvironmental Engineering (3)
  • CE 654 Design of Groundwater Flow Systems (3)
  • CE 766 Wastewater Engr./Biol. Proc. (3)
  • CE/BAE/CHE 768 Geoenvironmental Engineering Design (3)
  • CHE 650 Hazardous Waste Engr. Sem. (1)
  • CHE 715 Biochemical Engineering (3)
  • EVET 230 Env. Chemistry & Toxicology (2)
  • EVET 270 Hazardous Waste Management (2)
  • GEOG 705 Remote Sensing of Environ. (3)
  • GEOL 650 Exploration Geophysics (3)
  • GEOL 730 Petroleum Geology (3)
  • LAR 420 Natural Systems & Site Analysis (4)
  • LAR 704 Env. Landscape Planning (5)
  • LAR 741D Fluvial Systems I (3)
  • RRES 575 Management of Water Resources (3)
  • RRES 635 Methods of Env. Interp. (3)
  • RRES 640 Adv. Env. Interp. (3)
Social Science/Humanities Courses

  • AGCOM/MC 712 Environmental Communications

  • AGEC 525 Natural Resources & Environmental Economics (3) 

  • AGEC 610 Current Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Issues (3)

  • ANTH 260 Introduction to Archaeology (3)

  • ECON 527 Environmental Economics. (3) 

  • ENGL 450 Literature and Environment (3)

  • ENGL 680 Environment in American Literature (3) 

  • GEOG 340 Geography of Natural Resources (3) 

  • GEOG 360 Sustainability Science (3)

  • GEOG 460 Human Dimensions of Global Change (3)

  • GEOG 718 Geography of Public Lands (3) 

  • GEOG 720 Geography of Land Use (3) 

  • GEOG 725 Geography of Water Resources (3) 

  • GEOG 730 World Agricultural Systems (3) 

  • GEOG 760 Human Impacts on the Environment (3) 

  • GEOG 765 Geography of Natural Hazards (3)

  • GEOG 770 Perception of Environment (3) 

  • HIST 511 Environmental History (3) 

  • HIST 557 History of American Agriculture

  • HIST 563 Global Environmental History (3) 

  • LAR 322 Env. Issues and Ethics (3)

  • LAR 646 Landscape Architecture Design V (4)

  • PHILO 595 Environmental Ethics (3)

  • PLAN 315 Introduction to Planning (3)

  • SOCIO 536 Environmental Sociology (3)

  • WOMST 480/500 Women in Env. (3)

Capstone Course Requirements

All students must successfully complete the NRES capstone course.  This course should be scheduled during the student's senior year.

  • DAS 582, DEN 582, or GENAG 582  Natural Resources/Environmental Sciences Project (3)