The Ecohydrology undergraduate degree prepares students for surface water oriented
careers in hydrology, watershed science, geographic information system applications
for hydrologic analysis, water quality assessment, ecology of aquatic systems, and
management and restoration. Students learn about the relationships between
hydrologic mechanisms and ecological patterns and processes in watersheds and aquatic
systems. Courses required for the major are shown below. These courses
offer graduates the option of meeting the qualifications for classification as a
federal GS1315
(Hydrologist).
A. English—3-6 credits
ENG 101—Composition I 3
ENG 102—Composition II 3
NOTE: Students who place in ENG 102 are not required to complete ENG 101.
B. Mathematics—4 credits
MATH 181—Calculus I 4
C. Natural Sciences—8 credits
CHEM 121—General Chemistry I 4
CHEM 122—General Chemistry II 4
NOTE: CHEM 201 and CHEM 202 are acceptable.
D. Social Sciences—3 credits
APEC 100—Society and Economics Value of Nature (3), OR
APEC 202—Natural Resources, the Environment and the Economy 3
E. Fine Arts—3 credits
Refer to the "Fine Arts" section of the Core Curriculum chapter
in this catalog 3
F. Core Humanities—9 credits
CH 201—Foundations Western Culture 3
CH 202—The Modern World 3
CH 203—American Experience and Constitutional Change 3
G. Capstone Courses—6 credits
NRES 467—Regional and Global Issues in Environmental and Natural
Resource Sciences, OR
NRES 400—International Issues for Water Development 3
and one of the following: 3
APEC 466—Natural Resources and Environmental Economics
GEOG 464—Race, Gender and the Environment
PSC 403C—Environmental Policy
PHIL 481A—Science, Technology and Society
PHYS 400—Energy: Principles, Sources and Problems
H. Diversity—3 credits
NRES 211—Conservation, Biodiversity and Humans (required as part
of Ecology offerings, below)
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS (21-22 credits)
APST 270—Introduction to Statistical Methods (4), OR
STAT 152—Introduction to Statistics (3), OR
MATH/STAT 352—Probability and Statistics (3) 3-4
GEOL 101—General Geology 3
BIOL 190—Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology 3
BIOL 191—Introduction to Organismal Biology 3
NRES 100—Principles of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences
3
NRES 210—Environmental Pollution 3
NRES 412—Environmental Law OR PSC 403E—Environmental Law 3
ECOLOGY REQUIREMENTS (19 credits)
Students must take the following courses:
BIOL 314 – Ecology and Population Biology 3
NRES 211 – Conservation, Biodiversity, and Humans 3
NRES 440—Wetland Ecology and Management 4
Students must take three of the following four courses:
BIOL 420—Aquatic Ecology 3
NRES 484 – Limnology 3
NRES 475 – Landscape Ecology 3
NRES 495 – Fire Ecology and Management 3
HYDROLOGY REQUIREMENTS (30
credits)
GE 484 — Groundwater Hydrology 3
GEOG 205 – Applications of Geographic Information Systems 3
MATH 182 — Calculus II 4
MATH 283 — Calculus III 4
NRES 304—Principles of Hydrology 3
NRES 322—Soils 3
NRES 414 — Hydrologic Fluid Dynamics 3
NRES 482 — Small Watershed Hydrology 4
PHYS 180 — Physics for Scientists and Engineers I 3
TECHNICAL ELECTIVES (12 credits)
Students must select at least 12 credits from the following courses:
APST 412 — Applied Geographic Information Systems 3
APST 470 — Linear Regression and Times Series 3
ATMS 117—Meteorology 3
BIOL 251 — Microbiology 4
CHEM 220 — Introductory Organic Chemistry OR
CHEM 241 — Organic Chemistry I OR
CHEM 341 — Organic Chemistry for Scientists and Professionals I 3
CEE 364 R — Engineering Hydrology 3
CEE 367L—Fluid Mechanics Laboratory 1
CEE 390—Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering 3
CEE 404—Open Channel Flow 3
CEE 418—Principles of Water Quality Modeling 3
GEOL 416 — Environmental Geochemistry 3
GEOG 312 — Cartography 3
GEOG 407R—Geographic Information Systems 3
GEOG 409R – Advanced Geographic Information Systems 3
GEOG 411 — Modeling Using Geographic Information Systems 3
GEOG 421 — Climatology 3
NRES 310 – Wildlife Ecology and Management 3
NRES 341 – Principles of Range Management 3
NRES 345 – Range and Forest Plants 5
NRES 405 – Silviculture and Regional Silviculture 5
NRES 421 – Conservation Biology 3
NRES 422 — Soil Physics 3
NRES 432 — Environmental Toxicology 3
NRES 441 – Ecology and Management of Invasive Plants 3
NRES 475 – Landscape Ecology (if not applied to Ecology minor) 3
NRES 485— Special Topics (Field Methods in Hydrology) 3
NRES 485 – Special Topics (Limnology lab) 1
NRES 493 – Range and Forest Ecology 3
NRES 494 – Range and Forest Administration and Policy 3
NRES 495 – Fire Ecology and Management (if not applied to Ecology minor) 3
NRES 497 – Forest and Range Soils 3
NRES 498 – Rangeland Restoration Ecology 3
*MATH 285 — Differential Equations 3
*PHYS 181 — Physics for Scientists and Engineers II 3
*These classes are required for those who wish to qualify as hydrologists for federal
positions.
