All aspects of land and environmental management involve soils and water. Soils and the vegetation they support interact to control the land-atmosphere exchanges of water and carbon, the routing of nutrients and solutes through the environment, and the hydrologic and water quality characteristics of receiving streams Our faculty research in this area supports a range of questions associated with soil and hydrologic sciences. Faculty research in this area includes: Carbon sequestration Landscape-controlled variation in soil characteristics and watershed behavior The effects of management activities on water quality The effectiveness of best management practices Soils as a medium for plant growth The use of soils to treat or sequester waste materials Hydrology Forest soils Water quality and environmental systems Funding for our research comes from many sources including NSF, DOE, USDA, USACE, and the wood products industry. Graduate Degrees in Water and Soil Resources Our graduate students address basic and applied questions in soil and hydrologic sciences including carbon sequestration, landscape-controlled variation in soil characteristics and watershed behavior, the effects of management activities on water quality, the effectiveness of best management practices, soils as a medium for plant growth, and the use of soils to treat or sequester waste materials. The graduate curriculum is highly flexible, but most of our students take coursework in spatial and statistical analysis in addition to coursework in soils, hydrology, and ecology. Students may focus on surface and subsurface fluid flow processes, contaminant fate and transport, forest soil processes, environmental systems analysis, and treatment processes for contaminant removal. Additional opportunities exist for interdisciplinary studies with programs in ecology, geology, crop and soil sciences, biological and agricultural engineering, natural resources policy, environmental health sciences, geography, fisheries, wildlife, and environmental design. Many of our graduates work in resource management, scientific, or regulatory agencies such as the USFS, ARS, USGS, and EPA. Some go on to academic careers. Others work in consulting firms addressing a number of environmental issues, some in forest industry, and some work for environmental NGOs. CURRICULUM Water and Soil Science can be pursued under the MNR, MS, and PhD degree programs. To pursue Water and Soil Science as an official Area of Emphasis (MNR only), the following courses are required: Course ID Name Hours* Select 3: WASR 6110/L Forest Hydrology 4 WASR 8730 Aquifer Mechanics 3 WASR 6500 Quantitative Methods in Hydrology 3 WASR 6000/L Forest Soil Management 3 GEOL 8710 Watershed-Scale Modeling 3 ENTO 8150 Wetland Ecology 3 ECOL 8850/L Terrestrial Biogeochemistry 3 CRSS 6600/L Soil Physics 3 CRSS 6540/L Pedagogy 3 *Total of 9 hours required for the area of emphasis QUESTIONS? For general questions about pursuing a graduate degree at Warnell, contact a member of the graduate team: Dr. Jacek Siry, Graduate Coordinator Office: 4-501 Phone: 706-542-3060 Kate deDufour, Graduate Program Administrator Office: 1-217 Phone: 706-542-1183 Prospective students should also contact faculty members for questions specific to this disciplinary area. Please check faculty members’ personal pages for information about their individual research interests and projects to ensure that you are contacting the most relevant ones.
