Fisheries and Water Resources: Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Option, B.S.

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This major is administered by the Fisheries and Water Resources Discipline.

The fisheries and water resources bachelor of science degree prepares you for a career or graduate study in fishery science or management, aquatic biology, hydrology, hydrogeology (groundwater), laboratory analysis of water and environmental samples, aquatic toxicology, and the assessment and management of water resources. You must select one of three options: Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ; Hydrology ; or Water Resources .

The fisheries and aquatic sciences option prepares you for employment in consulting firms or state, tribal or federal resource management agencies where you would be involved in manipulating fishery resources through regulating human use, managing aquatic habitat, and stocking. With a BS degree in fisheries you will likely begin your professional employment as a limited term employee. An MS degree will greatly increase employment potential and job responsibilities in fisheries and aquatic sciences. If you complete the requirements for the fisheries and aquatic sciences option with a grade of C or better in all required courses, you will have completed the minimum course requirements for certification by the American Fisheries Society as a certified fisheries professional. For more information about certification see the American Fisheries Society website.

Consists of 99-106 credits.

Fisheries and aquatic sciences, 28 credits

NRES 250 - Introduction to Fisheries, Forestry and Wildlife Resources 4 cr.
BIOL 374 - Ichthyology 4 cr.
BIOL 375 - Fisheries Ecology 3 cr. or
WATR 384 - Life History of Fishes 3 cr.
WATR 200 - Preparing for a Career in Fisheries and Water Resources 1 cr.
WATR 353 - Fish Population Dynamics 4 cr.
WATR 488 - Aquatic Insects 3 cr.
WATR 388 - Aquatic Ecology 3 cr.
WATR 483 - Fisheries Research 3 cr.
WATR 484 - Fisheries Management 3 cr.

Biological sciences, 20 credits

Physical sciences, 16-21 credits

NRES 251 - Introduction to Soil and Water Resources 4 cr.
CHEM 105 - Fundamental Chemistry 5 cr. and
CHEM 106 - Fundamental Chemistry 5 cr.
or
CHEM 117 - General Chemistry Principles 5 cr.
CHEM 221 - Survey of Organic Chemistry Lecture 3 cr. or
SOIL 479 - Environmental Fate of Organic Chemicals 3 cr.
PHYS 201 - Applied Principles of Physics I 4 cr.

Mathematics and statistics, 7-8 credits

MATH 111 - Applied Calculus 4 cr. or
MATH 225 - Calculus I 5 cr.
and
MATH 255 - Elementary Statistical Methods 4 cr. or
MATH 356 - Probability and Statistics I 3 cr.

Human dimensions, 9 credits

NRES 150 - People, Resources and the Biosphere 3 cr.
NRES 372 - Resource Economics 3 cr.
PHIL 380 - Environmental Ethics 3 cr.

Water resources electives, 12 credits

Choose any water resources courses not already specified above. No more than 6 credits of WATR 381 may be used to fulfill this requirement.

Professional Field Experience, 7-8 credits

Choose Option A or B:

A. Field techniques in Natural Resources, 7 credits

FOR 319 - Land Surveying 1 cr.
FOR 320 - Field Experience in Forest Measurement 1 cr.
NRES 405 - Selected Topics in Natural Resources 1-3 cr. (Take 1 credit)
SOIL 359 - Soil Conservation and Watershed Inventory Techniques 1 cr.
SOIL 360 - Field Experience in Soil Inventory Methods 1 cr.
WLDL 340 - Field Experience in Wildlife Management Techniques 1 cr.
WATR 380 - Field Experience in Aquatic Ecosystem Evaluation 1 cr.

B. European summer program, 8 credits

NRES 475 - International Field Experiences in Natural Resources Management 1-8 cr.

Note

The Field Techniques in Natural Resources satisfies the Experiential Learning GEP requirement. For more information, see the GEP section of the Catalog.

Communication in the Major

WATR 483 - Fisheries Research 3 cr.
WATR 484 - Fisheries Management 3 cr.

Capstone Experience

WATR 484 - Fisheries Management 3 cr.