Management of natural resources is critical to human health and quality of life. Maintenance of clean air and water and preservation of native biodiversity are major challenges facing society today. The Department of Natural Resources Science (NRS) engages in research, teaching, and outreach activities that address these challenges. Our department is unique in that we encompass a wide array of natural resources fields such as remote sensing, wildlife and conservation biology, wetland science and management, watershed science, forest ecosystem ecology, landscape ecology, and soil science, and we take a multidisciplinary approach to solving complex environmental problems using state-of-the-art tools. As a result, we have been able to develop teaching, research, and extension programs of the highest caliber.

The Department of Natural Resources Science was established in 1983 through the merger of the University's Forest and Wildlife Management Department and the Soil Science Section of the Plant and Soil Science Department. The Department currently has 13 faculty and 20 support staff in residence. At any one time there are 25-35 graduate students pursuing Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy degrees and approximately 200 undergraduate students majoring in Environmental Science and Management, Water and Soil Science, and Wildlife Biology and Management.

The Department has office and laboratory facilities in Woodward Hall on the Kingston Campus. In conjunction with the Plant Sciences Department, we also administer the Rhode Island Soil and Water Conservation Laboratory, located at URI's Peckham Farm. Facilities at this laboratory include experimental individual sewage disposal systems and surface runoff and groundwater monitoring plots. NRS teaching and research are conducted at a wide variety of locations throughout the state, including the Kingston Wildlife Research Station, which is jointly managed by the Department and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island; the Environmental Research Area on the 900-hectare W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich; and the Great Swamp, Carolina, Burlingame, and Arcadia Management Areas near the University.

The Department has excellent computing resources, including an extensive array of personal computers and high-speed internet access in all Departmental facilities. We have state-of-the-art spatial analysis and graphics capabilities in the Environmental Data Center and in the Laboratory for Terrestrial Remote Sensing. Teaching and research laboratories are equipped with instruments for a wide range of environmental chemical analyses, including nutrients, heavy metals, and organic pollutants.

Instructional Objectives

The fundamental goal of the Department's teaching program is to educate students to solve real-world problems in the management and protection of natural resources. We strive to help students identify the central issues of each environmental problem and derive a practical solution using contemporary tools. Graduates from our program have the skills to tackle environmental issues anywhere in the world. Our problem-solving philosophy is rooted in basic scientific methods; the use of powerful, modern, analytical tools; and translation of scientific results into sound management plans and policies.

The objective of our undergraduate teaching program is to give students a broad-based exposure to problem-solving in the areas of soil science, water resource management, forest ecology, wildlife science, and land use management. Our undergraduates develop the skills to excel as resource managers, land use regulators, and environmental consultants. At the same time, they acquire excellent preparation for post-graduate studies.

The goal of our graduate program is to produce tomorrow's leaders in natural resources science in the academic arena, the public sector, and private industry. Graduate students in the Department of Natural Resources Science pursue programs of study leading to the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Environmental Sciences. The programs are multifaceted, and offer students the opportunity to engage in basic or applied research on a variety of natural resources topics. Interdisciplinary research, a hallmark of the Department, is a natural outgrowth of the broad range of expertise represented by the faculty. Through thesis and nonthesis options, NRS graduate students collaborate with faculty on studies of soil, water, forest, wildlife, and wetland resources, and seek lasting solutions to pressing land use problems. Graduate study in Natural Resources Science is highly flexible, with programs tailored to the interests and goals of individual students.