Soils are the most complex and diverse habitats for life on earth. Soil health is critical to human well-being. The Soil Ecology concentration emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of soils through the study of soil organisms, their interactions with each other, and the soil's physical and chemical environment. These interactions affect the cycling of elements - including carbon and nitrogen, release (or consumption) of greenhouse gases, water quality, soil formation and structure, and plant productivity. Career opportunities exist in academia, state and federal health and environmental agencies, natural resource agencies (water and soil), state and national parks services, private industries, and in the rapidly growing environmental consulting profession.
Effective Fall 2018
| Freshman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| AUCC | Credits | ||
| AGRI 192 | Orientation to Agricultural Systems | 1 | |
| Select one from the following: | 3 | ||
| Agricultural and Resource Economics (GT-SS1) | 3C | ||
| Issues in Environmental Economics (GT-SS1) | 3C | ||
| CHEM 111 | General Chemistry I (GT-SC2) | 3A | 4 |
| CHEM 112 | General Chemistry Lab I (GT-SC1) | 3A | 1 |
| CHEM 113 | General Chemistry II | 3 | |
| CHEM 114 | General Chemistry Lab II | 1 | |
| CO 150 | College Composition (GT-CO2) | 1A | 3 |
| LIFE 102 | Attributes of Living Systems (GT-SC1) | 3A | 4 |
| MATH 155 | Calculus for Biological Scientists I (GT-MA1) | 1B | 4 |
| PHIL 110 | Logic and Critical Thinking (GT-AH3) | 3B | 3 |
| SOCR 100 | General Crops | 4 | |
| Total Credits | 31 | ||
| Sophomore | |||
| CHEM 245 | Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry | 4 | |
| CHEM 246 | Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry Laboratory | 1 | |
| GEOL 120 | Exploring Earth - Physical Geology (GT-SC2) | 3A | 3 |
| GEOL 121 | Introductory Geology Laboratory (GT-SC1) | 3A | 1 |
| LAND 220/LIFE 220 or LIFE 320 | Fundamentals of Ecology (GT-SC2) Ecology | 3A | 3 |
| PH 121 | General Physics I (GT-SC1) | 3A | 5 |
| SOCR 240 | Introductory Soil Science | 4 | |
| SPCM 200 | Public Speaking | 3 | |
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | ||
| General Statistics | |||
| Introduction to Statistical Methods | |||
| Introduction to Biostatistics | |||
| Arts and Humanities | 3B | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 30 | ||
| Junior | |||
| BC 351 | Principles of Biochemistry | 4 | |
| CO 301B or JTC 300 | Writing in the Disciplines: Sciences (GT-CO3) Professional and Technical Communication (GT-CO3) | 2 | 3 |
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | ||
| Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources | |||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | |||
| Geographic Information Systems in Agriculture | |||
| SOCR 322 | Principles of Microclimatology | 3 | |
| SOCR 440 | Pedology | 4 | |
| Diversity and Global Awareness | 3E | 3 | |
| Historical Perspectives | 3D | 3 | |
| Technical Electives (select from list below) | 6 | ||
| Total Credits | 29-30 | ||
| Senior | |||
| SOCR 421 | Crop and Soil Management Systems II | 4A,4B,4C | 4 |
| SOCR 455 | Soil Microbiology | 3 | |
| SOCR 456 | Soil Microbiology Laboratory | 1 | |
| SOCR 470 | Soil Physics | 3 | |
| SOCR 471 | Soil Physics Laboratory | 1 | |
| SOCR 486 or 487 | Practicum Internship | 1-3 | |
| SOCR 492 | Seminar | 4A | 1 |
| Technical Electives (select from list below) | 10-13 | ||
| Total Credits | 29-30 | ||
| Program Total Credits: | 120 | ||
Soil Ecology Technical Electives Department List
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1: Ecology Technical Electives | ||
| BSPM 308 | Ecology and Management of Weeds | 3 |
| BSPM 526/BZ 526 | Evolutionary Ecology | 3 |
| BSPM 570 | Chemical Ecology | 3 |
| BSPM 571 | Techniques in Chemical Ecology | 1 |
| BZ 348/MATH 348 | Theory of Population and Evolutionary Ecology | 4 |
| BZ 353/NR 353 | Global Change Ecology, Impacts and Mitigation | 3 |
| BZ 450 | Plant Ecology | 4 |
| BZ 471 | Stream Biology and Ecology | 3 |
| BZ 561 | Landscape Ecology | 3 |
| F 311 | Forest Ecology | 3 |
| FW 555 | Conservation Biology | 3 |
| MIP 432/ESS 432 | Microbial Ecology | 3 |
| MIP 433/ESS 433 | Microbial Ecology Laboratory | 1 |
| NR 220 | Natural Resource Ecology and Measurements | 5 |
| RS 478 | Ecological Restoration | 3 |
| Group 2: Specialization Technical Electives | ||
| BSPM 424/BZ 424 | Principles of Systematic Zoology | 3 |
| BZ 212 | Animal Biology-Invertebrates | 4 |
| BZ 223 | Plant Identification | 3 |
| BZ 333 | Introductory Mycology | 4 |
| MIP 300 | General Microbiology | 3 |
| MIP 302 | General Microbiology Laboratory | 2 |
| MIP 350 | Microbial Diversity | 3 |
| MIP 450 | Microbial Genetics | 3 |
| RS 420 | Grass Taxonomy | 3 |
| SOCR 330 | Principles of Genetics | 3 |
| SOCR 341 | Microbiology for Sustainable Agriculture | 1 |
| SOCR 350 | Soil Fertility Management | 3 |
| SOCR 351 | Soil Fertility Laboratory | 1 |
| Freshman | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| AGRI 192 | Orientation to Agricultural Systems | 1 | |||
| CHEM 111 | General Chemistry I (GT-SC2) | X | 3A | 4 | |
| CHEM 112 | General Chemistry Lab I (GT-SC1) | 3A | 1 | ||
| CO 150 | College Composition (GT-CO2) | 1A | 3 | ||
| MATH 155 | Calculus for Biological Scientists I (GT-MA1) | X | 1B | 4 | |
| SOCR 100 | General Crops | X | 4 | ||
| Total Credits | 17 | ||||
| Semester 2 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | ||||
| Agricultural and Resource Economics (GT-SS1) | 3C | ||||
| Issues in Environmental Economics (GT-SS1) | 3C | ||||
| CHEM 113 | General Chemistry II | X | 3 | ||
| CHEM 114 | General Chemistry Lab II | 1 | |||
| LIFE 102 | Attributes of Living Systems (GT-SC1) | 3A | 4 | ||
| PHIL 110 | Logic and Critical Thinking (GT-AH3) | 3B | 3 | ||
| CO 150 and AUCC 1B (Quantitative Reasoning) must be completed by the end of Semester 2. | X | ||||
| Total Credits | 14 | ||||
| Sophomore | |||||
| Semester 3 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| CHEM 245 | Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry | 4 | |||
| CHEM 246 | Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry Laboratory | 1 | |||
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | ||||
| Fundamentals of Ecology (GT-SC2) | 3A | ||||
| Ecology | |||||
| SOCR 240 | Introductory Soil Science | X | 4 | ||
| Arts and Humanities | 3B | 3 | |||
| Total Credits | 15 | ||||
| Semester 4 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| GEOL 120 | Exploring Earth - Physical Geology (GT-SC2) | 3A | 3 | ||
| GEOL 121 | Introductory Geology Laboratory (GT-SC1) | 3A | 1 | ||
| PH 121 | General Physics I (GT-SC1) | 3A | 5 | ||
| SPCM 200 | Public Speaking | 3 | |||
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | ||||
| General Statistics | |||||
| Introduction to Statistical Methods | |||||
| Introduction to Biostatistics | |||||
| CHEM 245 must be completed by the end of Semester 4. | X | ||||
| Total Credits | 15 | ||||
| Junior | |||||
| Semester 5 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| BC 351 | Principles of Biochemistry | 4 | |||
| SOCR 440 | Pedology | 4 | |||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | ||||
| Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources | |||||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | |||||
| Geographic Information Systems in Agriculture | |||||
| Diversity and Global Awareness | 3E | 3 | |||
| Total Credits | 14 | ||||
| Semester 6 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | ||||
| Writing in the Disciplines: Sciences (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||||
| Professional and Technical Communication (GT-CO3) | 2 | ||||
| SOCR 322 | Principles of Microclimatology | 3 | |||
| Historical Perspectives | 3D | 3 | |||
| Technical Electives (See Department List on Concentration Requirements tab) | 6 | ||||
| Total Credits | 15 | ||||
| Senior | |||||
| Semester 7 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| SOCR 421 | Crop and Soil Management Systems II | X | 4A,4B,4C | 4 | |
| SOCR 455 | Soil Microbiology | X | 3 | ||
| SOCR 456 | Soil Microbiology Laboratory | X | 1 | ||
| SOCR 470 | Soil Physics | X | 3 | ||
| SOCR 471 | Soil Physics Laboratory | X | 1 | ||
| SOCR 492 | Seminar | X | 4A | 1 | |
| Technical Elective (See Department List on Concentration Requirements tab) | 3 | ||||
| Total Credits | 16 | ||||
| Semester 8 | Critical | Recommended | AUCC | Credits | |
| SOCR 441 | Soil Ecology | X | 4C | 3 | |
| Select one course from the following: | X | 1 | |||
| Practicum | |||||
| Internship | |||||
| Technical Electives (See Department List on Concentration Requirements tab) | X | 10 | |||
| The benchmark courses for the 8th semester are the remaining courses in the entire program of study. | X | ||||
| Total Credits | 14 | ||||
| Program Total Credits: | 120 | ||||