Ecological and environmental engineers work with all kinds of natural resources, like water, soil, plants, and air. For example, they could be responsible for the design of livestock or wildlife watering stations in a natural forest or the design of a recycling waste management system on a dairy farm. Graduates find challenging and rewarding work with engineering and environmental consultants, with government agencies like the Forest Service, and with companies such as Valmont Irrigation and Creative Habitat.

Conserving soil and water resources is critical to our future. Expanding populations and increasing needs for food, goods, and services are placing an ever growing demand upon our precious soil and water resources. Ecological and environmental engineers are finding ways to manage and conserve our resources today so that we can meet the demands of the future.

Requirements

Major Requirements
Common Requirements53
Specialization & Technical Electives43
Capstone5
Total Credits101

Common Requirements

See Major Requirements.

Ecological and Environmental Engineering Named Option

This is a named option that will appear on the student's transcript upon completion.

BSE/CIV ENGR/SOIL SCI 372On-Site Waste Water Treatment and Dispersal2
BSE 472Sediment and Bio-Nutrient Engineering and Management3
BSE 473Water Management Systems3
BSE 571Small Watershed Engineering3
M E 361Thermodynamics3
CIV ENGR 310Fluid Mechanics3
or M E 363 Fluid Dynamics
BSE 301Land Information Management3
E M A 303Mechanics of Materials3
ENVIR ST/GEOG/SOIL SCI 230Soil: Ecosystem and Resource3
or SOIL SCI 301 General Soil Science
Complete one of the following BSE breadth courses:3
Engineering Properties of Food and Biological Materials
Renewable Energy Systems
Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture
Biorefining: Energy and Products from Renewable Resources
Food and Bioprocessing Operations
Heat and Mass Transfer in Biological Systems
Engineering Principles of Agricultural Machinery
Engineering Principles of Off-Road Vehicles
Introduction to Precision Agriculture
Fluid Power
Digital Technologies for Animal Monitoring
Total Credits29

Technical Electives

See Major Requirements.

Capstone

See Major Requirements.

Four-Year Plan

Sample Biological Systems Engineering Four-Year Plan—Ecological and Environmental Engineering Named Option

Students must complete at least 125 total credits to be eligible for graduation.

First Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
MATH 2215MATH 2224
CHEM 1095SOIL SCI/​ENVIR ST/​GEOG  2303
General Education courses6INTEREGR 1703
 Biological Sciences Course3
 General Education course3
 16 16
Second Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
MATH 2344STAT 3243
E M A 2013PHYSICS 2025
BSE 2493BSE 3081
BSE 2703BSE 3493
BSE 3013BSE 4723
 16 15
Third Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
BSE/​CIV ENGR/​SOIL SCI  3722BSE 3103
BSE 3803BSE 3653
BSE 4733BSE 5082
MATH 3203BSE 5713
CIV ENGR 3103E M A 3033
Technical Elective3INTEREGR 397 (COMM B)3
 17 17
Fourth Year
FallCreditsSpringCredits
BSE 5093Technical Electives6
M E 3613CALS International Comparisons3
BSE Breadth Requirement3Elective Courses6
Technical Elective3 
General Education course3 
 15 15
Total Credits 127