Environmental and Conservation Sciences

The graduate program leading to an M.S. or a Ph.D. in Environmental and Conservation Sciences (ECS) rests on an integrative curriculum and a multidisciplinary team approach. The program emphasizes the common ground shared by all sciences, and seeks to bridge methodological and philosophical boundaries that might hinder interdisciplinary communication and cooperation. The program offers three tracks: Environmental Science, Conservation Biology and Environmental Social Sciences. The Environmental Science track focuses on abiotic environmental issues, such as water, air, and land pollution. The Conservation Biology track focuses on biotic issues, such as the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem function. The Environmental Social Sciences track emphasizes environmental economics and policy.

The interdisciplinary nature of this program is reflected by the participation of faculty from across the campus, including the Colleges of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources; Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Engineering; and Science and Mathematics.

Environmental Science

Areas of Environmental Science, such as climate change, groundwater, hazardous waste, and water chemistry, require broad training across discipline lines for successful application. To better predict anthropogenic environmental impacts, the engineering, earth material, chemical, and biological data must be considered in an integrated manner.

Conservation Biology

Conservation Biology focuses on the loss of regional and global biodiversity, but considers the human element as well in its approach to resource issues. As an example, conservation genomics, community ecology, invasion ecology, endangered species management, and human-wildlife conflicts are themes for ECS Graduate Students.

Environmental Social Sciences

Environmental Social Sciences focuses on Natural Resources Economics; Environmental Economics as related to Environmental policy.

Admissions Requirements

To be admitted to the Environmental and Conservation Sciences program, the applicant must meet the Graduate School requirements. Further, applicants are only considered after an ECS affiliated faculty member has agreed to to admit the student to her/his lab and make arrangements of stipend and research funding. Thus, applicants should contact ECS faculty members who share their research interests. https://www.ndsu.edu/ecs/index.php/people/faculty

Financial Assistance

The applicant should contact a prospective mentor to identify sources of financial aid. Teaching and research assistantships may be available through funded research or participating departments. Applicants are considered on the basis of scholarship and potential to undertake advanced study and research. Contact the office of Financial Aid and Scholarships for information and applications regarding scholarships.

Program Administration

The graduate program is administered by the ECS Steering Committee. The committee is composed of ECS graduate faculty members representing the participating colleges: Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources; Engineering; and Science and Mathematics. The committee also includes a student member which is nominated annually by the ECS Graduate Student Association.

The ECS Program Director presides over ECS Steering Committee meetings. The duties of the ECS Steering Committee include:

review of requests to join the ECS faculty and
program review and administration.

Program Faculty

https://www.ndsu.edu/ecs/people/faculty/

By the end of the second semester, the student and academic adviser will arrange for the appointment of a Graduate Supervisory Committee. For Ph.D. study, the Graduate Supervisory Committee will consist of at least four members of the NDSU graduate faculty. The committee must include the student's adviser, two additional ECS faculty members, and a Graduate School representative. One committee member must be from outside the student's home college.

For M.S. study, the Graduate Supervisory Committee will consist of at least three members of the NDSU graduate faculty and will include the student's adviser, an ECS faculty member and a faculty from outside the student's home college. The plan of study will be prepared by the student, in consultation with the major adviser, by the end of the first year in residence.

Master of Science in Environmental and Conservation Sciences

The total credits will be not less than 30 graduate credits, with at least 16 credits of graduate courses numbered 601-689, 691; 700-789, 791 or 800-889, 891 plus the ECS graduate seminar for 1 credit, and research credits (798) not fewer than 6 nor more than 10 thesis credits. The didactic credits must include at least 1 ECS cross-disciplinary course; 1 ECS track course and UNIV 720 Scientific Integrity. All M.S. students must complete a thesis and pass a final examination as described in The Graduate School Policies section of the Graduate Bulletin. An overall GPA of 3.0 or better must be maintained.

Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental and Conservation Sciences

Each Ph.D. student will complete at least 27 credits of didactic courses plus the ECS graduate seminar for 1 credit. The didactic courses will include: 3 core courses (9 credits), UNIV 720 Scientific Integrity, a minimum of 14-15 credits from a chosen track, and 2-3 credits of electives from another track or other NDSU courses numbered 601-689, 691; 700-789, 791 or 800-889, 891. The 15 track credits must be from at least 2 course categories. Two of the three courses must come from outside of the student's chosen track. Of the 27 didactic course credits, a total of 15 must be at the 700-800 level. A total of 90 credits are required.

For students entering the program with a Master’s Degree or previous graduate coursework, up to 12 credits of previous graduate work can transfer and be counted toward the 27 credits. Such transferred credits must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee, the program director and the Graduate Dean. The student must earn no fewer than 60 graduate credits at NDSU. Of these, no fewer than 15 credits must be at the 700 or 800 level (700-789, 791; 800-889 and 891).

Program Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Environmental Social Sciences Track
ECON 681	Natural Resource Economics	3
ECS 770	Environmental Law and Policy	3
HIST 634	Environmental History	3
or HIST 710	Research Seminar in North American History
or HIST 780	Readings in World History
NRM 631	National Environmental Policy Act & Environental Impact Assessment	3
NRM 702	Natural Resources Management Planning	3
SOC 631	Environmental Sociology	3
Environmental Sciences Track
CE 770	Hazardous Waste Site Remediation	3
GEOL 614	Hydrogeology	3
MICR 652	Microbial Ecology	3
PH 720	Environmental Health	3
Conservation Biology Track
BOT 862		3
BOT 864		3
ZOO 675		3
ZOO 850

CONSERVATIVE BIOLOGY TRACK - TOTAL 18 CREDITS

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Biodiversity
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
BIOL 681	Wetland Science
BOT 717
ENT 750	Systematic Entomology
RNG 716	Agrostology
ZOO 650
ZOO 652
ZOO 654
ZOO 658
Ecology and Evolution
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
BIOL 850	Advanced Ecology
BIOL 859	Evolution
BOT 660
BOT 862
BOT 864
ENT 765
ENT 770	Writing a Scientific Literature Review
GEOL 640
MICR 652	Microbial Ecology
PLSC 631	Intermediate Genetics
PLSC 751	Advanced Plant Genetics
PLSC 781
RNG 765	Analysis Of Ecosystems
SOIL 610	Soils and Land Use
SOIL 647	Microclimatology
ZOO 662
ZOO 670
ZOO 850
ZOO 860
ZOO 870
Human Dimensions and Management
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
ANTH 662	Anthropology and the Environment
COMM 783	Advanced Organizational Communication I
CE 678	Water Quality Management
ECON 682	Environmental Economics
POLS 642	Global Policy Issues
POLS 650	Politics of the Developing Countries
RNG 656	Ecological Restoration
ZOO 675
ZOO 676
ZOO 677
ZOO 850
Research Tools
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
CE 677	Applied Hydrology
GEOG 655	Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 656	Advanced Geographic Information Systems
GEOL 660	Biogeochemistry
GEOL 760	Advanced Biogeochemistry
PLSC 724	Field Design I
PSYC 640	Experimental Methods
RNG 650	Range Plants
SOC 701	Quantitative Methods
SOIL 784
STAT 661	Applied Regression Models
STAT 662	Introduction to Experimental Design
STAT 663	Nonparametric Statistics
STAT 665	Meta-Analysis Methods
STAT 670	Statistical SAS Programming
STAT 730	Biostatistics
STAT 761	Advanced Regression
STAT 770	Survival Analysis

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES TRACK-TOTAL 17 CREDITS

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Water Sciences
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
ABEN 664	Resource Conservation and Irrigation Engineering
ABEN 765	Small Watershed Hydrology and Modeling
CE 610	Water & Wastewater Engineering
CE 677	Applied Hydrology
CE 676	Watershed Modeling
CE 678	Water Quality Management
CE 679	Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment
CE 776	Ground Water and Seepage
CE 779	Watershed Water Quality Modeling
CE 796	Special Topics
GEOL 640
ZOO 670
Soil and Solid Waste
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
ABEN 696	Special Topics
CE 672	Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
CE 770	Hazardous Waste Site Remediation
SOIL 610	Soils and Land Use
SOIL 633	Soil Ecohydrology and Physics
SOIL 733	Advanced Soil Nutrient Cycling
Environmental Management
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
CE 672	Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
CE 678	Water Quality Management
COMM 783	Advanced Organizational Communication I
RNG 656	Ecological Restoration
ZOO 675
ZOO 676
ZOO 677
Research Tools
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
ABEN 682	Instrumentation & Measurements
ABEN 696	Special Topics
CE 677	Applied Hydrology
GEOG 655	Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 656	Advanced Geographic Information Systems
GEOL 660	Biogeochemistry
GEOL 760	Advanced Biogeochemistry
IME 660	Evaluation of Engineering Data
RNG 650	Range Plants
STAT 662	Introduction to Experimental Design
STAT 725	Applied Statistics
STAT 761	Advanced Regression

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES TRACK-TOTAL 17 CREDITS

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Social Science Theory
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
AGEC 741	Advanced Microeconomics
ANTH 680	Development of Anthropological Theory
COMM 711	Communication Theory
ECON 640	Game Theory and Strategy
POLS 720
SOC 622	Development Of Social Theory
SOC 723	Social Theory
Cultural and Behavioral Aspects
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
AGEC 711	Applied Risk Analysis I
ANTH 662	Anthropology and the Environment
ANTH 664	Disaster and Culture
ECON 656
ECON 681	Natural Resource Economics
ECON 682	Environmental Economics
HIST 634	Environmental History
POLS 642	Global Policy Issues
POLS 653	Environmental Policy and Politics
SOC 631	Environmental Sociology
SOC 639	Social Change
SOC 643
Management Techniques
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
COMM 783	Advanced Organizational Communication I
GEOL 660	Biogeochemistry
NRM 631	National Environmental Policy Act & Environental Impact Assessment
NRM 632
NRM 653	Rangeland Resources Watershed Management
NRM 701	Terrestrial Resources Management
NRM 702	Natural Resources Management Planning
RNG 654	Wetland Resources Management
RNG 656	Ecological Restoration
SOC 604	Community Assessment
TL 755	City Logistics
ZOO 675
ZOO 676
ZOO 850
Research Tools
Select 3-9 credits of the following:
AGEC 701	Research Methods
AGEC 739	Analytical Methods for Applied Economics
BIOL 850	Advanced Ecology
COMM 700	Research Methods in Communication
COMM 701	Advanced Research Methods in Communication I
COMM 704	Qualitative Research Methods in Communication
COMM 707	Quantitative Research Methods in Communication
ECON 610	Econometrics
ECON 710	Advanced Econometrics
EMGT 614
ENGL 656	Literacy, Culture and Identity
ENGL 758	Topics in Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture
GEOG 655	Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 656	Advanced Geographic Information Systems
PSYC 640	Experimental Methods
RNG 652	Managing Natural and Rangeland Resources using GIS
RNG 765	Analysis Of Ecosystems
SOC 700	Qualitative Methods
SOC 701	Quantitative Methods
STAT 660	Applied Survey Sampling
STAT 661	Applied Regression Models
STAT 662	Introduction to Experimental Design
STAT 663	Nonparametric Statistics
STAT 665	Meta-Analysis Methods
STAT 670	Statistical SAS Programming
STAT 725	Applied Statistics
STAT 726	Applied Regression and Analysis of Variance
STAT 730	Biostatistics
STAT 761	Advanced Regression
STAT 770	Survival Analysis

Preliminary Examinations for Doctoral Students

The written preliminary examination will cover the core areas for ECS and each of the core topic areas for the appropriate track. The preliminary examination will typically be taken in the middle of the third year. The written exam must be passed before the comprehensive oral examination can be scheduled.

The comprehensive oral examination will be taken no later than the end of the third year in residence. The examination will cover the topic areas for the appropriate track.

Dissertation Research

A proposal describing research suitable for preparation of a dissertation in Environmental and Conservation Sciences will be prepared in the format of a NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant. Alternative formats must be agreed to by the Graduate Supervisory Committee. The proposal will be submitted to the student's Graduate Supervisory Committee for review and approval. The dissertation must show originality and demonstrate the student's capacity for independent research.

University Catalog 2024-25