TREES Course Requirements

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements listed in GCAC-208 Dual-Title Graduate Degree Programs. To qualify for the TREES dual-title intercollege degree, students must satisfy the requirements of the major degree program in which they are enrolled, including the communication/foreign language requirements, if any.

In addition to the requirements of their home department, TREES students must satisfy the minimum requirements in the dual-title intercollege program described here. Final course selection, including which courses will satisfy both the graduate major program and dual-title program requirements, is determined by the students with approval by their dual-title program advisors and their major program advisors.

A student in TREES must complete 15 credits of TREES course work beyond the bachelor's degree in addition to curricular requirements for the master's or doctoral degree in the student's primary program. These courses are required for both the M.S./M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. 
 

Required Courses

The following courses are required for all TREES students:

• TREES 574 Integrated Perspectives in Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society (3 credits)
• TREES 575 Ethical Issues in Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society (3 credits)
• TREES 590 Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society Colloquium (1 credit)

All dual-title intercollege degree candidates should enroll in TREES/HDNRE 590 in their first semester.

Elective Courses

Students must also draw additional courses from at least two pools that provide the most breadth for the student as determined by the program chair.  Examples of pre-approved courses in each of the three pools are listed below. Substitutes require graduate advisor endorsement and approval by a TREES program chair.

Society Pool:

• ANTH 559 Human Ecology
• ANTH 560 Ecology, Evolution, and Human Behavior
• ANTH 588 Method and Theory in Archeology
• ARCH 550 Ethics in the Built Environment
• GEOG 530 Human-Environment Seminar
• RSOC 508 Sociology of Agriculture
• RSOC 517 International Rural Social Change
• RSOC 555 Human Dimensions of Natural Resources

Landscape Pool:

• FOR 565 GIS Based Socio-Ecological Landscape Analysis
• GEOG 414 Principles and Applications in Landscape Ecology
• GEOG 453 Geospatial Applications in Water Resources & Aquatic Ecosystems
• GEOG 482 Making Maps That Matter With GIS
• GEOG 565 Selected Topics in Geographic Information Science
• GEOG 587 Conservation GIS
• LARCH 510 Graduate Seminar in Landscape Architecture

Environment Pool:

• AGECO 418 Nutrient Management in Agricultural Systems
• ARCH 412 Integrative Energy and Environmental Design
• CE 561 Surface Hydrology
• CE 576 Environmental Transport Processes
• EME 551 Safety, Health and Environmental Risks in Energy and Mineral Production
• GEOG 430 Human Use of the Environment
• METEO 561 The Global Carbon Cycle
• PHYS 580 Elements of Network Science and Its Applications
• SOILS 571 Ecosystem Nutrient Cycles

Practical Experience

Students are also required to obtain practical experience outside of the normal classroom setting. 

• TREES 594 Independent Study (at least 1 credit) usually consists of a semester spent in a "lab rotation" attending the research meetings of TREES faculty whose research program provides a complement to the student's major department. These lab rotations are worked out in consultation with a TREES program chair and the student's advisor. 
• A graduate-level Internship (typically TREES 595, though the internship credit can reside in the student’s home department or in a related program). Internship proposals require advisor endorsement and approval by a TREES program chair.

Total Required Credits: 15