Environmental Planning and Natural Resource Management

The specialization in environmental planning and natural resources management deals with the protection and stewardship of air, water, land and other natural resources. Concerns include both the management of natural resources directly, as well as the mitigation of adverse impacts on these resources caused by human settlements and activities. The specialization offers an overview of key environmental issues, and provides the theoretical, methodological, and legal background necessary for the planner to have an effective role in dealing with these issues.

All students in the specialization are expected to develop a broad competence in the range of environmental policy affairs through coursework in environmental ethics, economics, politics, impact assessment methods, pollution control technology, applied ecology, and environmental law. In addition, students will generally develop competence in a specific policy area through the design of a concentration. The goal of the program is to graduate an environmental policy analyst and planning generalist who can envision and organize decision making in the full range of natural resource areas, but who also has special competence in a particular issue.

Coursework

The specialization consists of three required and two elective courses. The required courses are:

URP 5421: Intro to Environmental Planning and Natural Resources Management
URP 5425: Methods of Environmental Analysis
URP 5427: Environmental Legislation and Policy

Two elective courses should be chosen from the following list:

URP 5122: Planning Dispute Resolution
URP 5123: Collaborative Governance
URP 5272: Urban and Regional Information Systems
URP 5312: Growth Management
URP 5405: River Basin Planning and Management
URP 5422: Coastal Planning
URP 5424: Sustainable Development
URP 5429: Food Systems Planning
URP 5429: Planning for and Mitigating Climate Change
URP 5504: Community Involvement and Citizen Participation
URP 5716: Transportation and Land Use
URP 5731: Planning of Community Infrastructure
URP 5873: Site Design and Land Use Analysis
URP 5881: Urban Design

Students also may choose, with permission of the specialty advisor, the following courses as specialty electives:

CHM 5086: Environmental Chemistry I
ENV 5105: Air Pollution Control
ENV 5407: Water Reuse Engineering
ENV 5504: Environmental Engineering Processes and Operations
ENV 5615: Environmental Impact Analysis
GEO 5305: Biogeography
GEO 5345: Disaster Preparedness and Hazards Mitigation
GEO 5353: Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
GEO 5358: Environmental Conflict and Economic Development
GEO 5377: Natural Resources Assessment and Analysis
GIS 5100: Advanced GIS
GIS 5305: GIS for Environmental Analysis and Modeling
GLY 5575: Coastal Geology
GLY 5885: Geologic Hazards Assessment
GLY 5827: Principles of Hydrology
GLY 5887: Environmental Geology
LAW 6480: Natural Resource Law
LAW 7481: Energy Law and Policy
LAW 7482: Endangered Species Protection Law
LEI 5555: Analysis and Management of Leisure Systems
OCE 5018: Issues in Environmental Science
PAD 5397: Foundations of Emergency Management
PCB 5425: Population Ecology
PCB 5447: Community Ecology

Concentrations

Students are encouraged to develop competence in a specific policy area such as water, air quality, solid and hazardous waste, public and environmentally sensitive lands, coastal resources, or natural hazards mitigation. In-depth training in an area of concentration involves the use of the two specialty electives, plus two additional electives, to create a program that focuses on a specific policy issue. Additional course selections are available, both within the department and from other departments, to construct this concentration. Students are encouraged to consult with a specialty advisor in the design of this program.