NRES Online M.S. Blog

Good afternoon! This email contains essential information for your progress in the NRES online MS program. In it, you will find information about:

1. NRES online spring courses
2. Signing up for the written final exam
3. Requesting to enroll in capstone credit.

As always, you are welcome to make an advising appointment at https://go.nres.illinois.edu/Online_Grad_Advising_Appointment. If you don't see dates and times, select current student at the top.

Core 3: NRES 419 Environment & Plant Ecoystems (70844)
Instructor: Lynne Carpenter
Tuesdays 6:00-9:00 pm
3 credit hours
Relationships among environmental factors and plant processes and functions; impact of human activities on the environment and the structure and function of plant ecosystems. Examples will be drawn from a variety of managed and unmanaged plant ecosystems. 

Elective (or if you didn't need 454, it can count for Core 1): NRES 455 Advanced GIS for Environmental Management (66031)
Instructor: Sam Stickley
Wednesdays 5:00-8:50 pm
3 credit hours
Examines advanced applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing for environmental management. This course integrates current geospatial tools and methods to learn applied techniques for collecting spatial data, building spatial models and databases, analyzing spatial patterns, managing environmental issues, and communicating science through interactive mapping applications. Course exercises provide hands-on learning approaches and introduce students to programming principles for GIS. 

Core 2: NRES 474 Soil and Water Conservation (49090)
Instructor: Zhongjie Yu
Recorded lectures and Mondays 6:00-7:00 pm
3 credit hours
Application of principles of soil conservation and management to the solution of land-use problems; influence of soil characteristics on erosion control, cropping intensity, water management, and land-use planning. 

Core 2: Soil Fertility and Fertilizers (491167)
Instructor: Richard Mulvaney
Recorded lectures and one-hour live discussion arranged with students
3 credit hours
Provides a broad-based understanding of the basic principles of soil fertility and their application. Coverage includes the occurrence, cycling, and plant availability of the essential mineral nutrients in soils; fertilizer sources, soil reactions, and efficiency; evaluating fertilizer and lime needs; methods of fertilizer application; and the economics of fertilization. 

Elective: Surface Water System Chemistry (45549)
Instructor: Robert Hudson
Thursdays 6:00-9:00 pm
4 credit hours
Examines the interaction of chemical and biological processes that govern the chemistry of streams, lakes, and wetlands, and the response of aquatic organisms to pollution. Chemical equilibrium and kinetic principles are used to analyze the behavior of surface water systems through the use of models. Topics include modeling of field studies in environmental inorganic chemistry and biogeochemistry. The laboratory section will be devoted to instruction in the use of computer models and to their practical application. 

Elective: NRES 500 Graduate Seminar (59162)
Instructor: Jocelyn Curtis-Quick
Asynchronous
1 credit hour (graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory)
Exposure to current research and specialized topics in natural resources and environmental sciences through attending/viewing and responding to the NRES seminar series. 

Core 1: NRES 502 Research Methods in NRES (69541)
Instructors: Piper Hodson and Jocelyn Curtis-Quick
Mondays 7:00-9:00 pm and pre-recorded lectures
4 credit hours
Theory and practice of research methods in natural resources, ecology, and environmental sciences. Provides an overview of study design and sampling techniques. 

Core 3: NRES 511 Research Methods in NRES (60783)
Instructor: Kirk Stodola
Wednesdays 6:30-9:30 pm
4 credit hours
Provides a thorough foundation of fundamental ecological principles that govern the distribution and abundance of organisms with extra attention to applied ecology as it pertains to current-day ecological problems. The approach will include lectures, discussions, hands-on evaluation and interpretation of data and experimental design presented in case studies, and design and implementation of an independent research project. 

Core 4: NRES 527 Wetland Science & Conservation in Context (77250)
Instructor: Caitlin Bloomer
Tuesdays 7:00-8:30 pm plus extensive Canvas and Coursera requirements.
8-week class meets 1/20-3/13
4 credit hours
Deepens students’ understanding of policy, economic, community, and cultural factors that empower and constrain wetland protection, conservation, and restoration. The first half explores wetland regulation and management in the U.S., in other countries, and internationally with attention to adapting to environmental change within those policy contexts. The second half focuses on competing management and conservation priorities, social aspects of wetland conservation, restoration, and management, and developing skills in the effective and culturally sensitive stakeholder engagement. 

You may also count 400- and 500-level courses from other departments toward your degree. Here is a list of online courses from related departments in Spring 2026. If you receive a registration error when trying to register for a course in a different department, contact that department for assistance. 

If you will have completed your core courses at the end of the fall term, you are eligible to submit your Written Final Exam in January. To sign up for that exam, complete this form no later than December 15, 2025. If you have questions about the Written Final Exam, you will find the last advising session recording useful (the dates will, of course, change, but the general advice will not).

If you are ready to begin enrollment in the capstone project (the final two semesters of the program), complete the capstone enrollment request form. To register for capstone credit in a timely fashion, please complete this form no later than January 1, 2026. Wondering what the capstone process will be like? Watch this recording.