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Natural Resources and Environmental ManagementSherman Lab 1011910 East West Road Honolulu HI 96822 Tel: (808) 956-7530 Fax: (808) 956-6539 E-mail: nrem@ctahr.hawaii.edu Web: www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/ctahr2001/CTAHRCatalog/nrem.html Faculty* Graduate faculty *S. A. El-Swaify, PhD (Chair)—natural resource degradation, erosion, conservation, water quality Cooperating Graduate Faculty*J. DeFrank, PhD (TPSS)—herbicide management Affiliate Graduate FacultyD. Drigot, PhD (US Army Corp of Engineers)—natural resource management Overall Goals of the Academic ProgramThe Natural Resources and Environmental Management program emphasizes the science and management of natural, including renewable, resources and their interlinks to environmental quality. It provides students with scientific knowledge of the physical, chemical, biological, economic, social, and policy elements of natural resources management and so allows them to understand the principles that underpin productive, sustainable land use, and enhanced environmental quality. Graduating students will be able to solve contemporary resource use problems and assist in sound decision making for optimizing land use; and managing agricultural and forestry systems, watersheds, and landscapes in an ecologically sound manner. Graduates will also be skilled in addressing resource policy issues and the needs of diverse clientele and communities including policy makers and planners. Scientific objectivity will be emphasized as an important element of environmental planning. Thus, students will be trained in the use of quantitative models and such tools as decision aids for optimizing natural resource management and ecosystem stewardship. Undergraduate StudyBS in Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM) AdvisingUndergraduate majors are required to report for advising prior to registration each semester. An entering student must meet with a member of the Advising Committee to determine the student’s interest and preparation for the NREM major. The student is then assigned to an advisor, with whom (s)he meets every semester to plan courses and chart progress toward graduation. After a student decides on a track specialization, a mentor may be provided to assist in arranging an internship (NREM 492), selection of elective courses, career advising and his/her professional development. Entrance RequirementsFreshmen may be admitted directly into the program when they apply to the UH. Students transferring from another program in the UH system or other universities must have a minimum 2.5 GPA for transferable credits. Degree RequirementsThe BS degree requires a total of 128 credit hours, with at least 60 credits in upper division and non-introductory (i.e. with college-level prerequisite) courses. Regardless of selected specialization, all students must complete a set of basic core courses. Many of these courses also satisfy General Education Core requirements. Required basic courses include:
All students must also complete an applied science program core, which requires the following courses:
Specializations and their Requirements Students have a choice between two tracks within which to develop an upper-division specialization. Both tracks require a set of specific courses and selected electives totaling 30 credits. Some electives, however, may require additional prerequisite courses and credits. This track focuses on the biological/physical and natural science aspects of resource management. Course requirements include:
Specialization in Resource Development and Policy: This track emphasizes the social sciences and business/public management skills. Course requirements include:
Options for Meeting UHM Hawaiian/ Second Language Requirement As part of the graduation requirements for all undergraduate students at UHM, NREM majors will select one of the following three options for Hawaiian/Second Language study, in consultation with the faculty adviser: Option 1: Show proficiency in Hawaiian/Second Language at a 202 course level. Native and bilingual speakers of a second language may be granted a waiver for the foreign language requirement by the College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature. Option 2: Show proficiency in Hawaiian/Second Language at a 102 course level and take one additional course each in the Social Sciences (3 credits) and in the Natural Sciences (3-4 credits). Option 3: Take two additional courses each in the Social Sciences (total 6 credits) and in the natural sciences, including at least one course with a laboratory (total 7-8 credits). The additional Social and Natural Science courses can be chosen from any 100-200 level UHM courses in the respective area. Graduate StudyThe NREM graduate program brings together natural and social scientists to offer a holistic, integrative, multi-/inter-disciplinary program that uses a systems approach to understanding and managing tropical terrestrial ecosystems. Emphasis is placed on small island settings and their relevance to managing coastal zones in general. It will incorporate the various components and scales (spatial and temporal) that determine ecosystem function and that bear upon the social and economic welfare of residents in different communities and environmental settings. Curricula and courses will emphasize the cutting-edge physical, chemical, biological, economic, social, and policy sciences underpinning the productive, profitable, and sustainable use and management of natural, environmental, and economic resources. The program will also provide a science-based understanding of the processes that control the performance and function of terrestrial ecosystems, and the human behaviors and policies that impact, and are impacted by those processes. Students will be expected to acquire quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and other advanced skills that enable them to solve contemporary resource use problems and to assist in sound decision-making and policy formation. Graduates will be skilled in resolving land use conflicts that arise in addressing policy issues and the competing needs of diverse clientele and communities, including policy makers, planners, and other decision makers. Scientific objectivity will be emphasized as an important element of societal debate and state-of-the-art environmental planning. Thus, students will be trained in the development and use of quantitative models and such tools as multiple objective decision aids for optimizing the use and management of the natural resource base. Natural resource management issues are attracting considerable national and global attention, as well as growing donor interest, especially in the Asia/Pacific and tropical and subtropical regions. Graduate training, therefore, will feature collaboration with national and international institutions to foster programs that provide students with opportunities to learn about the ways that people from other countries and cultures manage their natural, including renewable, resources and interact with their environments. Graduating students are expected to serve as professionals in resource and environmental management and policy, academic teaching and research, or applied research and outreach in educational and research institutions, federal and state technical assistance and policy agencies, agricultural and forestry industries, consulting firms, and private nonprofit organizations. Specialization Areas and Their Requirements NREM is a multidisciplinary department that is uniquely positioned to offer the integrative graduate curricula that are necessary for informed decision-making and action-oriented holistic natural resource and environmental management. As a fundamental foundation in graduate training, all NREM students are expected to acquire a common base of knowledge embodied in a core set of courses. However, NREM faculty are also cognizant that emphasizing problem solving and multi-disciplinarity may be misunderstood as a dilution of the scientific rigor that is expected to characterize graduate training, especially at the doctoral level. Therefore, students will be provided an opportunity to select a specific area of specialization. Two primary areas of specialization will be available, namely Resource Management and Conservation, and Resource and Environmental Economics. The first is a biological-physical area that includes the characterization, quality, productivity, behavior, management, protection, conservation, and remediation of natural resources in terrestrial ecosystems. The second is a socioeconomic area that includes the economic analysis of the ownership, allocation and pricing of natural resources, including inter-temporal and inter-generational dimensions, environmental quality and externalities, market–and non-market valuation techniques, and the role of institutions and laws in natural resource and environmental policy formulation. While we will require a common nucleus of multidisciplinary courses as a core, we will also require an additional core designed to provide advanced training in the chosen primary specialization area. Further course work beyond these cores will be selected from a pool of elective courses with guidance from the student’s Program Committee. Specific specializations in the Resource Management and Conservation area include land resource inventory and interpretation; tropical forestry and agroforestry; sustainable land management; land degradation processes and models including erosion, salinization and sedimentation; land, soil and water conservation, reclamation and remediation; water quality; nonpoint source pollution, contaminant sources and transport in watershed agroecosystems; and byproduct recycling potentials and environmental impacts. Specific specializations in the Resource and Environmental Economics area include ecological and environmental economics; non-market valuation in resource allocation and policy development; water resource allocation, economics and policy; economics of sustainable resource utilization; forest economics; community economic development; land and water use economics and policy, and conflict resolution and multi-criteria decision support systems for integrated resource management. To underscore its integrative nature, the NREM Graduate Program features strong collaboration with other academic departments within and outside CTAHR, as well as selected collaborating institutions in and out of Hawai‘i. Cooperating- and affiliate-graduate faculty with appropriate expertise will complement NREM’s faculty expertise for the benefit of graduate students. NREM is also an active partner in offering the multidisciplinary campus-wide Graduate Resource Management Certificate. Admission RequirementsApplicants for graduate standing must have a bachelor’s degree with the qualifications necessary to gain admission to the UHM Graduate Division. Those cleared through the Graduate Division will be evaluated by the department based on previous academic record and specific criteria that include the graduation requirements for the BS degree in NREM, the GRE score, chosen area of specialization, recommendation letters, and prior research or professional experience. MS applicants must have a BS degree in natural resource management, environmental management, or a related field in a biological, physical, or social science discipline. Those opting for the Resource Management and Conservation specialization area must show a minimum of 15 credits in prior preparation in physical, biological and/or earth sciences, mathematics, or equivalent courses. Those opting for the Resource and Environmental Economics specialization need a minimum of 15 course credits in social sciences to include resource economics, mathematics, management, quantitative analysis or comparable courses. Applicants for the PhD degree are required to have an MS degree in NREM or a related field with background courses similar or equivalent to those described below for the MS core in NREM. The minimum TOEFL score required of foreign students is 600 and 250 for Type P or Type C examinations, respectively. AdvisingAdmitted students will be advised on an interim basis by the Graduate Program Interim Advising Committee which is appointed by the Graduate Program Chair. The primary tasks of this committee are to administer the diagnostic examination (see below), verify entrance and background deficiencies, and prescribe remedial courses. A Student Program Committee (thesis or dissertation committee) with a chair whose expertise coincides best with the student’s chosen specialization area will be formed as soon as possible after admission. This committee will guide the student’s program, advise on the selection of required and elective courses, assist with and approve the selection of a thesis/dissertation research topic that is appropriate for the chosen area of specialization, administer the required Comprehensive and Defense examinations, and oversee the completion of degree requirements. Degree RequirementsMS Degree Program It is expected that the course preparation for admitted students with a BS degree will be the same, be equivalent to, or exceed those core areas required for the BS degree in NREM. With no deficiency in this background, the required minimum number of course credits for the MS degree will be the same as required by the Graduate Division. Plans A, B, and C will be offered. Plan A will require the usual number of 700 thesis credits specified by the Graduate Division. Plan B will be primarily course-driven. Plan C will be available to selected students based on their prior academic record and experience. Either the Interim Advising Committee or Student Program Committee may recommend entering students for pursuing this option. Each student will select a Specialization Area with the approval of the Student Program Committee as early as possible following enrollment in the graduate program. To meet the integrative, inter-disciplinary intent of this program, a set of graduate level courses, a Primary Core, will be required of every student, regardless of his/her selected Specialization Area. In addition, a Secondary Core that prepares the student for the selected Specialization Area will also be required. The remaining credit requirements will be met by thesis credits (NREM 700), Directed Research (NREM 699) and elective courses that are approved by the Student Program Committee. Primary MS core (12 Cr)
Secondary core for Resource Management and Conservation specialization area (9 Cr)
Secondary Core for Resource and Environmental Economics specialization area (9 Cr)
PhD Degree ProgramThe PhD degree in NREM will be awarded only to students with outstanding scholarly achievement. PhD standing may be provisionally granted to applicants with a BS degree, but only if they have strong academic background and a high GRE score. However, these applicants may still be required to obtain an MS degree in NREM before formal admission to PhD candidacy. Those with academic records that do not match the NREM core requirements will be expected to incorporate these into their PhD program. In addition, to meet the integrative, inter-disciplinary intent of this program, a set of graduate level courses, a Primary Core, will be required of every student, regardless of his/her selected Specialization Area. In addition, a Secondary Core that prepares the student for the selected Specialization Area will also be required. The remaining degree requirements will be met by dissertation credits (NREM 800), Directed Research (NREM 699), and elective courses that are approved by the Student Program Committee. All PhD students must pass a written and oral Comprehensive Examination (described below), before being advanced to candidacy. The Student Program Committee will be responsible for designing and administering the Comprehensive Examination. Primary PhD core (9 Cr)
Secondary core for Resource Management and Conservation specialization area (18 Cr)
Secondary Core for Resource and Environmental Economics specialization area (18 Cr)
Comprehensive Examination PhD candidates must pass a two-part (written and oral) Comprehensive Examination upon completion of the required course cores, and before being advanced to candidacy. The Student Program Committee will be responsible for designing and carrying out the Comprehensive Examination which is to follow the preparation of the Dissertation Proposal. The examination is intended to cover all the subjects deemed essential to the selected specialization area, and to verify the student’s preparedness for carrying out the proposed dissertation research. Each member of the Student Program Committee will submit a set of questions for the written portion of the examination. Therefore, the number of specific fields represented in these questions is a function of and up to the members of the Student Program Committee. The oral portion will follow as soon as possible after the written portion of the Comprehensive Examination. Course Pool for Suggested Electives The following is a tentative course pool to guide student advising. Student course choices will be guided by the Student’s Program Committee.
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