Course Descriptions

     The following are main courses in the CNR program.  To view descriptions for other courses, go to the University Catalog.

LRU 101.  THE FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE: The Campus as a Conservation Laboratory
From climate change to local water pollution, threats to our environment are reported almost daily in the media.  Most of these issues are not caused by other people in distant lands.  Participation in the economy means that we are all partially responsible for environmental problems and thus can, by our actions, contribute to their solution.  This course will examine our campus as an opportunity for conservation.  Working in teams, students will select areas of interest and then perform assessments to quantify the state of conservation on campus.  These assessments may include the monitoring of attitudes, behavior, trash, electricity, or water.  Resource conservation begins at home, and the Lenoir-Rhyne University campus is your new home.  How are we doing?  How is our current condition influenced by attitudes?  How can we improve?  Using creativity, problem-solving skills, and your campus assessment, you will make suggestions for how our campus can be a better steward of the environment.  The course will consist of lectures, relevant reading, team work, data collection, policy evaluation, discussions, and presentations.  We plan on being in the “field” (outside of the classroom) much of the time.  So if you are interested in conservation, business, ecology, economics, policy, or science, or simply living in a healthy environment, this is the course for you.  One credit.  (Fall)

BIO 237.  BIODIVERSITY
Prerequisites: BIO 110 or BIO 106 
An examination of the variety and variability of life on earth and the interrelationships in ecosystems.  The course will look at complex relationships between living and non-living aspects of the natural world.  Topics include climatology and habitat diversity, taxonomic diversity, evolution and speciation, limiting factors, the impact of invasive species and requirements for biological conservation. Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week.  Four credits.  (Fall)  

CNR 120.  INTRODUCTION TO CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES    
This interdisciplinary gateway course, required for all Conservation of Natural Resources majors, features a case study approach to focus on the human relationships with and impact on the environment and our natural resources.  The course will examine some of the environmental and conservation problems. The causes of problems, methods for investigating problems and possible solutions to problems will be examined from a scientific and public policy perspective.  Lecture, laboratory and case study.  Four credits.  (Spring)  This course also fulfill the SCI 300 core curriculum requirement.

CNR 225.  ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
Prerequisites: BIO 110 or 105 or 106; EAR 110; CNR 120 
A survey of the physical, chemical and biological methods used to measure natural systems and to detect, measure and manage contaminants in natural and anthropological environments.  Particular attention will be given to exposure and associated impacts (including health risks) in natural and human environments.  Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week.  Four credits. (Spring)  

CNR 325.  LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS
Prerequisites: EAR 110; MAT 215, 129 or 165; Computer Competency 
An introduction to theoretical and practical techniques for addressing environmental issues. This course will consist of the study of a variety of landscapes and their underlying geological structure including the hydrology of those structures.  Hands-on problem solving using geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), mobile GIS and high definition digital imaging technologies will be studied as a way to enhance traditional field analyses of the landscape.  The course will include sampling strategies and methods using a variety of traditional and digital data sources.  These techniques will be related to an overall approach to land use and conservation issues.  Thee lecture hours and three laboratory hours per week.  Four credits.  (Fall)  

CNR 370.  ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Prerequisites: ECO 262 (Economics of the Environment); CNR 225 (Environmental  Monitoring) 
An examination of optimal available techniques for managing air, water, soil, waste and biological resources.  The course will involve compilation, analysis and processing of environmental data in order to determine ways to mitigate undesirable environmental outcomes.  Three credits.  (Spring) 

CNR 470.  PROBLEMS IN CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Prerequisites: Senior standing as a Conservation of Natural Resources major. 
This capstone course, required of all Conservation of Natural Resources majors, will investigate causes of and solutions to selected environmental problems.  The object of the course is to teach students how to approach and analyze a problem, how to develop a work plan and determine what is necessary to successfully implement the plan.  Using lecture, discussion, field study, and methods and tools learned in previous courses, students will engage in a group research project to learn methods used by private firms and governmental agencies to investigate and solve environmental and conservation problems.  The research project will culminate in a written and oral presentation.  Four - six credits. (Senior Year)                    

ECO 262.  ECONOMICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Prerequisites: Economics 122 
An introduction to the use of economic analysis to explain the underlying causes of environmental and resource conservation problems.  Policy options for the allocation of renewable and exhaustible resources, response to pollution, and toxic substance control and pursuit of sustainable development will be introduced.  Three credits. (Fall)    

ECO 362.  ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Prerequisites: ECO 262 (Economics of the Environment)     
This course examines how economic value applies to the conservation of natural resources.  National income accounting and natural capital, cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and impact analysis will be developed along with an understanding of how they are used by policymakers.  Three credits.  

PHI 251. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS  
A study of significant ethical issues attendant to ecology, the environment and conservation of natural resources.  The scope includes philosophical and historical dimensions, as well as national and global perspectives.  Attention is given to ethical dimensions of public policy, resource usage, economics, and questions of justice and fairness.  Three credits.  Every other year.