MESM: Wetland, Watershed, and Ecosystem Science

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1 MESM: Wetland, Watershed, and Ecosystem Science This specialization focuses on the science and management of ecosystems at all scales from landscape to interstitial. Students may concentrate studies in the ecology, mapping, management, and conservation of inland or coastal wetlands, streams or lakes in watershed science and management, particularly land use-water resource interactions related to environmental quality; in the ecology and management of forests for human use and biodiversity; or in soils, including mapping, bioremediation of organic pollutants.

2 Program Overview Students take courses from natural science: ecosystem science and management; earth science, water resources, hydrology, soils, and spatial analysis. In addition coursework can include statistics environmental planning, policy, law, and economics. Track Chair: Dr. Art Gold

3 Ecosystem Science and Management UNEP: United Nations Environmental Programme

4 Scale ranges from microbial to watershed and global Areas of Interest: Environmental monitoring and mapping Ecohydrology Ecosystem services Pollution assessment/abatement Lake and estuarine eutrophication Habitat and hydrologic restoration Watershed dynamics of flow and nutrients Climate change adaptation

5 Potential Focus Areas Green Infrastructure (LID) Wetlands assessment and management Water Quality Monitoring Watershed management Stream flow/continuity/environmental flows Soil Interpretations Soil certification possible Groundwater Protection Pollution abatement strategies

6 Careers Graduates find employment with federal and state resource management and regulatory agencies, municipal government, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and private environmental consulting firms. State Agencies Department of Environmental Management; Coastal Resources Management Council Federal Agencies United States Geologic Survey; Natural Resources Conservation Service Private Consulting Firms Geospatial Information Systems; Soils; Wetlands; Hydrology expertise often sought NGOs Conservancies; Watershed Councils

7 Common Certificates Hydrology (URI Graduate) GIS (URI Graduate) Soil Science (select courses that meet national certification)

8 Private sector opportunities within WWE track

9 Track Requirements Core courses (21-25 credits), including: Natural Sciences (12-16 credits) - Three credits in each of Watersheds, Wetlands, and Ecosystems (at least 9 total credits) Social Sciences (6 credits) Quantitative Methods (3 credits) Elective courses (6-10 credits): Hydrology, soils, wetlands, pollution, GIS Independent study (3 credits: EVS 597) Graduate seminar (2 credits)

10 Track Requirements con t Natural Science Core Courses NRS 406 Wetland Wildlife NRS 423 Wetland Ecology NRS 525 Wetlands Seminar NRS 426 Microbial Ecology NRS 450,452 Soil Conservation and Land Use NRS 461 Watershed Hydrology & Management NRS 471 Soil Morphology & Mapping NRS/BIO 585 Salt Marsh Ecology NRS 501 Restoration Ecology NRS 518 Ecohydrology NRS 526 Microbial Ecology of Soils and Sediments GEO 483 Hydrogeology GEO 482/582 Innovative Subsurface Remediation GEO/NRS 535 Geospatial Watershed Modeling GEO/NRS 584 Environ. Hydrogeology 4 cr. 4 cr. 1 cr 4 cr. 4 cr. 4 cr. Social Science Courses Community Planning (CPL) Environmental Law Writing and Rhetoric!!!! NRS 555 Applied Coastal Ecology Hazwopper course ENRE MAF courses (Cost Benefit) MAF 465 GIS Applic in Coastal and Marine Envir. Plus GIS courses and possible certificates in GIS and Hydrology

11 Internship and Major Paper Opportunities NRS Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program NRS Individual faculty work: Wetlands, Watersheds, Soils URI Coastal Resources Center URI Coastal Institute Narragansett Bay Estuary Program Save the Bay Westerly office Buzzards Bay Coalition State of RI: Coastal Resources Mgmt Council NRCS: Warwick Soil Conservation Districts Watershed groups Local communities (storm water)

12 Recent Grads Molly (Hunt) Allard, (Wetlands lab; Watershed Watch): Northern RI Conservation District Eric Ford (Mark Stolt, wetland soils): MA Dept. of Fish and Game, focus on wetland restoration. (Prior jobs in environmental consulting) Jacob Peterson (Art Gold, water pollution). RI Conservation Districts Drew Youngs (Mark Stolt, wetlands soils): New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (linked to Region 1 EPA). Groundwater pollution abatement Josh Oakley and Dustin Weisel (URI international project) Lake carrying capacity for aquaculture, Indonesia): LS Cable (Energy Related) Stefan Bengtson and Sarah Frasar: (Watershed Hydrology lab, Wetlands Lab, Town of Charlestown groundwater project) Fuss and O Neill water resources Kim Osienski and Tim Brosnan: (Watershed Hydrology Lab): US Natural Resources Conservation Service

13 Eivy Monroy, Environmental Analyst Narragansett Bay Estuary Program Recommended Courses: Watershed Hydrology; GIS; Wetlands; Ecohydrology, Soils. Suggestions for Major Paper - Find a tractable question. The topic does not set your professional direction - If it requires data, it would be better these data are readily available - Communicate with adviser as much as possible to clarify objectives and deliverables - Focus on why is this important and why others should care? Major paper, Water Use Conflicts in East Africa, used an existing UN model analyze a multi-faceted problem.