SUNY ESF
Water Resources Minor
Coordinators: Dr. John Stella (FNRM), Dr. Kim Schulz (EFB), and Dr. Chuck Kroll (ERE)
Water resources is a multi-disciplinary field that integrates the physical, geochemical and biological processes of the water cycle and their application to management of water resources, water policy, and human dimensions of water quality and quantity. The interdisciplinary minor in water resources is designed as a flexible program for undergraduate students to study and integrate principles of physical hydrology, geochemistry, aquatic and terrestrial ecology, natural resources management, and environmental policy. The minor can include courses in the Departments of Forest and Natural Resources Management, Environmental Resources Engineering, Environmental and Forest Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Studies, as well as relevant courses at Syracuse University. The minor comprises 15 credit hours total that must be distributed across three departments at minimum (i.e., course numbers with three separate prefixes), with the intent of covering a breadth of disciplines. These courses must include at least one foundation course, either FOR 442 Watershed Ecology and Management, or EFB 424 Limnology: Study of Inland Waters. Courses taken for the minor can also count toward students' majors or other academic requirements, subject to those other program guidelines. Students are responsible for meeting the prerequisite requirements for individual courses, as applicable.
Admission to this minor requires that a student from any ESF program has a cumulative grade point average of 2.70 or better after one semester at ESF (or as a transfer student with same GPA).
Required foundation course; students must take at least one of these:
- FOR 442 Watershed Ecology and Management (3)
- EFB 424 Limnology: Study of Inland Waters (3)
Approved elective courses that count toward the minor include the following, subject to availability and pre-requisite requirements. Other relevant courses may be petitioned.
Fall courses:
EFB 487 Fisheries Science and Management (3)
EFB 488 Fisheries Science Practicum (1)
EFB 496 Watershed Ecology with Focus on the Hudson River (2)
EFB 500 The Hudson River Watershed: Source to Sink in Eight Days (1-2)
EFB 525 Limnology Practicum (2)
EFB 554 Aquatic Entomology (3)
EFB 681 Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration and Enhancement (2)
ENS 601 Water Resources Management (3)
ENS 607 Wetland Practicum (2–3)
ERE 412 River Form and Process (3)
ERE 475 Ecological Engineering for Water Quality (3)
ERE 527 Stormwater Management (3)
EST 625 Wetland Management Policy (3)
FCH 515 Methods in Environmental Chemical Analysis (3)
FOR 338 Meteorology (3)
Spring courses:
EFB 423 Marine Ecology (4) (even years only)
EFB 486 Ichthyology (3)
EFB 492 Senior Synthesis in Aquatic and Fisheries Science (1)
EFB 542 Freshwater Wetland Ecosystems (3)
EFB 692 Ecology and Management of Waterfowl (3)
ERE 340 Engineering Hydrology and Hydraulics (4)
ERE 440 Water and Wastewater Treatment (3)
ERE 445 Hydrologic Modeling (3)
ERE 508 Water - An Incredible Journey (3)
ERE 570 Hydrology in a Changing Climate (3)
FCH 510 Environmental Chemistry I (3)
FCH 525 Oceanography (3)
FOR 340 Watershed Hydrology (3)
Approved Syracuse University courses:
CIE 352 Water Resources Engineering (3)
CIE 457 Biogeochemistry (3)
EAR 400 Contaminant Hydrogeology (3)
EAR 400 Chemical Oceanography and Paleooceanography (3)
EAR 401/601 Hydrogeology (3)
EAR 612 Water-Energy Seminar
GEO 316 River Environments
GEO 422 Water: Environment, Society and Politics