Courses in the five required areas of the program are listed below:

Part I: CORE COURSES

Take all of the following:

* STAT 5615: Statistics in Research I
* STAT 5616: Statistics in Research II
* GEOG/FOR 5104: Seminar in GIS and Remote Sensing (must take a minimum of two times; 1 credit each time)
* GEOG 5034: Analysis of Spatial Data
* FOR 5494: Natural Resource Research Procedures

Total CORE hours 13

Part II: GEOSPATIAL COURSES

Select four courses (total) from the following. A minimum of one course must be completed in each category. At least one of the four courses must be either NR 6104 or NR 6314.

Category 1: Geographic Information Systems

* BSE 5244 (CEE 5244) Advanced GIS Applications in Hydrologic Analysis
* CEE 5224: Advanced GIS Applications in Civil and Environmental Engineering
* CSES 5244 (GEOG 5244): Advanced Soil Interpretation Using GIS and DSS
* FOR 5264 (GEOG 5364): GIS Applications in Natural Resource Management
* GEOG 4324: Algorithms in Geographic Information Systems
* GEOG 4384: The Arc/Info Geographic Information System
* GEOG 5314: Advanced Spatial Analysis in Geographic Information Systems
* NR 6314: Advanced Topics in Geographic Information Technology

Category 2: Remote Sensing

* FOR 4214: Forest Photogrammetry & Spatial Data Processing
* FOR 5254: Remote Sensing of Natural Resources
* GEOG 4354 (GEOS 4354): Introduction to Remote Sensing
* GEOG 5124: Aerial Photointerpretation and Analysis
* NR 6104: Advanced Topics in Remote Sensing

Note: A student can substitute one 3-credit 5984 Special Study course focusing on a topic in geospatial analysis for one of the above geospatial courses if approved by the student’s Advisory Committee.

Total GEOSPATIAL hours 12

Part III: ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS COURSES

Select two of the following courses:

* BIOL 5024: Population and Community Ecology
* BIOL 5034: Ecosystem Dynamics
* BSE 4324: Nonpoint Source Pollution
* CEE 5124: Fundamental of Environmental Toxicology
* CEE 5184: Techniques for Environmental Analysis
* FIW 4534: Ecology and Management of Wetland Systems
* FIW 5114: Fisheries & Wildlife Conservation Genetics
* FIW 5214: Vertebrate Population & Habitat Analysis
* FIW 5514: Fish Population Dynamics and Modeling
* FIW 5814: Stream Habitat Management
* FOR 5214: Advanced Forest Inventory
* FOR 5224: Forest Biometry
* FOR 5334 (PPWS 5334): Plant Water Relations
* FOR 5354: Advanced Forest Soils
* FOR 5374: Advanced Forest Ecology
* FOR 5484: Wilderness Management
* GEOG 5214 Health and the Global Environment
* GEOG 5344: Globalization of Nature
* GEOG 5234: Human Impacts on the Environment
* NR 5114: Global Issues in Natural Resources
* NR 5324: Biological Implications of Natural Resource Policy &Management
* NR 5714: Ecosystem Management
* NR 5724: Conservation Ecology

Total ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS hours 6 TOTAL MINIMUM COURSEWORK = 31 CREDITS

Part IV: RESEARCH AND DISSERTATION

* NR 7994: Research and Dissertation - minimum (based on enrolling in up to12-15 hours of NR 7994 per semester) 30

Part V: ADDITIONAL HOURS

* Other coursework and/or additional hours of NR 7994 – minimum (which can include up to 15 hours of coursework transferred from another university and/or graduate coursework taken at Virginia Tech prior to enrolling in this program) 29

TOTAL MINIMUM DEGREE REQUIREMENT = 90 CREDITS