The University of Illinois' Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences has added two additional graduate-level fall 2018 courses.

NRES 454: GIS for Natural Resources Management

Wednesdays 6:30 -9:30 pm CST (August 27 – December 12, 2018)

Instructor: Kingsley Allen, GIS Manager, Illinois State Water Survey

Credit Hours: 4 (CRN 62154)

Geographical information systems (GIS) is a tool used for managing geographic and spatial data. In recent years, this technology has been adopted by government agencies, homeland security, urban planners, emergency services personnel, real estate and property managers, weather forecasters, and other professionals who need to capture, store, manipulate and analyze spatial data. Persons taking this course will become comfortable with map elements, vector and raster displays, shapefiles, structured query language, and have the ability to translate data from external files and prepare metadata for map modeling and a variety of map applications.

NRES 499: IL Environmental Law and Policy

Mondays 6:30 – 8:30 pm CST (August 27 – December 12, 2018)

Instructor: Jennifer Walling, Director, Illinois Environmental Council

Credit Hours: 3 (CRN 70873)

Analyze elements needed to pass policy to protect the environment and the political viability of policy solutions. Understand the role that scientists can have as experts testifying on policy. Improve your skills in organization, negotiation, and power analysis. Study bills and issues that are currently under consideration in the government, with in-depth focus on Illinois state legislature. Explore the role of public advocacy and how campaigns are influenced by different targets. Learn more about how to discuss the results of your research in a way that is easy for the public to understand, without losing academic integrity.

Other courses being offered online this fall that may be of interest:

NRES 403: Watersheds and Water Quality

NRES 419: Env. and Plant Ecosystems

NRES 499: Human Dimensions of Invasive Species

AGED 400: Foundations of Ag and Extension Ed.

AGED 420: Curriculum Design and Instruction

HORT 435: Urban Food Production

Learn more about the NRES Online M.S. Program at http://nres.illinois.edu/online

Register for a course at: https://online.illinois.edu/getting-started

For full course details, go to: http://go.nres.illinois.edu/FA2018_Online_MS-Courses