Natural Resources, AS (NATR-AS)

CT State Community College Catalog 2023-2024 New students enrolling for the first time in Fall 2023 will begin as students of Connecticut State Community College under this catalog.  Continuing students from one of the 12 community colleges will be transitioned into a CT State program in this catalog as of the start of the Fall 2023 term. The policies, courses and programs described are applicable as of the Fall 2023 term and may be updated as circumstances require.

The Natural Resources AS program is designed for students with an interest in environmental science, forestry, fisheries, conservation ecology, environmental biology, sustainability, wildlife management, soil science, environmental health and monitoring, sustainable agriculture/horticulture, and resource economics. This degree in natural resources provides students with a strong background in basic sciences, including life and the physical sciences, in addition to introducing them to concepts in nature conservancy, resource management, and environmental risk and assessment.

Students may choose to transfer into programs such as those offered through the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources at UCONN, the School of Arts and Sciences at Central Connecticut State University, the Environmental Studies program at Southern Connecticut State University and many other college and university programs across the state, region, and country. Graduates of the program have successfully transferred to many bachelor-degree institutions. Some alumni are also now pursuing MS and PhDs in related fields of study. The Natural Resources Certificate is embedded in this program.

Learning Outcomes:

• Demonstrate basic, safe laboratory skills.
• Demonstrate a variety of safe field sampling techniques.
• Apply the scientific process, experimental design, and statistical analysis of real-world data.
• Describe cellular, organismal, microbiological, and ecological principles of biology.
• Explain energy and nutrient transfer relationships through ecosystems.
• Compare and contrast the characteristics of the kingdoms of life and discuss various mechanisms to identify species.
• Utilize dichotomous keys, biomolecular analysis, and other methods to identify organisms.
• Describe population and community dynamics, ecosystem function, and systems thinking.
• Explain abiotic processes shaping terrestrial and aquatic communities from direct sampling and analysis.
• Discuss deep time, genetics, evolution, and mechanisms of evolution including natural selection.
• Explain chemical and biomolecular concepts as they relate to life and environmental topics.
• Evaluate important natural resources to humans as well as regional and global environmental concerns.
• Describe how science and risk assessment inform decision-making.
• Identify the importance of wicked problems, resilience, and adaptive management in natural resource planning.
• Transfer to a 4-year program and prepare for a career in Natural Resources, Environmental Science, or a related field.