Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

Offered on the Crete campus

Mission StatementThe Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) major at Doane University nurtures students’ perspectives on environmental topics and provides them with a thorough knowledge of environmental issues at the local, regional, and global levels. Students develop an understanding of their connection to the environment and acquire skills to explore scientific and human relationships within the global ecosystem. The curriculum increases student competence in addressing these issues and their origins, consequences, and sustainable solutions.

Core Program Learning Outcomes

Students graduating with a major in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences will be able to:

1. Make informed decisions on issues of local, national and global environmental significance based on an understanding of the interrelationships between humans and natural earth systems.
2. Use critical and creative thinking to understand, formulate, and apply the principles of environmental and earth system sciences that relate to land, air, and water.
3. Demonstrate information literacy by locating, interpreting, synthesizing, and applying information from relevant sources through capstone, presentation, and writing projects.
4. Apply the scientific method by engaging in hypothesis formation, testing, and problem solving.

In addition, each emphasis area has Program Learning Outcomes:

• Environmental Systems Emphasis:
  • Incorporate environmental, physical, and biological principles that govern natural processes to conduct environmental assessments.
  • Demonstrate skills in assessing environmental impacts that involve the effect of human activity on ecosystems.
• Human Dimensions Emphasis:
  • Identify and communicate the complex relationships between approaches to environmental issues and the diverse political, social, and economic perspectives on the environment
  • Apply fundamental concepts from the social sciences and the humanities to influence environmentally responsible behavior in private and public sectors.
• Agricultural Emphasis:
  • Apply soil and crop science principles to guide sustainable decision making in agricultural and natural resource settings.
  • Propose science-based solutions to complex challenges in natural resource management and agricultural production.