Natural resources and environmental engineers work with all kinds of natural resources, like water, soil, plants, and air. For example, they could be responsible for the design of livestock or wildlife watering stations in a natural forest or the design of a recycling waste management system on a dairy farm. Graduates find challenging and rewarding work with engineering and environmental consultants, with government agencies like the Forest Service, and with companies such as Valmont Irrigation and Creative Habitat.
Conserving soil and water resources is critical to our future. Expanding populations and increasing needs for food, goods, and services are placing an ever growing demand upon our precious soil and water resources. Natural resources and environmental engineers are finding ways to manage and conserve our resources today so that we can meet the demands of the future.
Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Major Requirements | ||
| Common Requirements | 53 | |
| Specialization Technical Electives | 43 | |
| Capstone | 5 | |
| Total Credits | 101 | |
Common Requirements
See Major Requirements.
Natural Resources and Environment Specialization
This is a named option that will appear on the student's transcript upon completion.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BSE/CIV ENGR/SOIL SCI 372 | On-Site Waste Water Treatment and Dispersal | 2 |
| BSE 472 | Sediment and Bio-Nutrient Engineering and Management | 3 |
| BSE 473 | Water Management Systems | 3 |
| BSE 571 | Small Watershed Engineering | 3 |
| M E 361 | Thermodynamics | 3 |
| CIV ENGR 310 | Fluid Mechanics | 3 |
| or M E 363 | Fluid Dynamics | |
| BSE 301 | Land Information Management | 3 |
| E M A 303 | Mechanics of Materials | 3 |
| or M E 306 | Mechanics of Materials | |
| ENVIR ST/GEOG/SOIL SCI 230 | Soil: Ecosystem and Resource | 3 |
| or SOIL SCI 301 | General Soil Science | |
| Complete one of the following BSE breadth courses: | 3 | |
| Engineering Properties of Food and Biological Materials | ||
| Renewable Energy Systems | ||
| Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture | ||
| Biorefining: Energy and Products from Renewable Resources | ||
| Food and Bioprocessing Operations | ||
| Heat and Mass Transfer in Biological Systems | ||
| Engineering Principles of Agricultural Machinery | ||
| Engineering Principles of Off-Road Vehicles | ||
| Total Credits | 29 | |
Technical Electives
See Major Requirements.
Capstone
See Major Requirements.
Four-Year Plan
Sample Biological Systems Engineering Four-Year Plan—Natural Resources and Environment Specialization
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| MATH 2211 | 5 | MATH 222 | 4 |
| CHEM 1092 | 5 | SOIL SCI/ENVIR ST/GEOG 2303 | 3 |
| LSC 100 (or other COMM A) | 3 | BSE 170 or INTEREGR 170 | 2-3 |
| Humanities | 3 | Biological Sciences Course | 3 |
| Ethnic Studies | 3 | ||
| 16 | 15-16 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| MATH 234 | 4 | STAT 324 | 3 |
| E M A 201 | 3 | PHYSICS 202 | 5 |
| BSE 249 | 3 | BSE 308 | 1 |
| BSE 270 | 3 | BSE 349 | 3 |
| BSE 301 | 3 | BSE 472 | 3 |
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| BSE/CIV ENGR/SOIL SCI 372 | 2 | BSE 310 | 3 |
| BSE 380 | 3 | BSE 365 | 3 |
| BSE 473 | 3 | BSE 508 | 2 |
| MATH 320 | 3 | BSE 571 | 3 |
| CIV ENGR 310 | 3 | E M A 303 | 3 |
| Technical Elective | 3 | INTEREGR 397 (or other COMM B) | 3 |
| 17 | 17 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| BSE 509 | 3 | Technical Electives | 6 |
| M E 361 | 3 | CALS International Studies | 3 |
| BSE Breadth Requirement | 3 | Elective Courses | 6 |
| Technical Elective | 3 | ||
| Humanities | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits 126-127 | |||
Students must complete at least 125 total credits to be eligible for graduation.
- 1
MATH course dependent on placement score and transfer credit evaluation.
- 2
If CHEM 103 & CHEM 104 are taken in place of CHEM 109, it is suggested to take CHEM 103 in the fall semester and CHEM 104 in the spring semester of the first year and move Biological Science to the fall semester of the second year.
- 3
SOIL SCI 301 is offered Fall semesters and is a 4-credit alternative to SOIL SCI/ENVIR ST/GEOG 230.