Wednesday, 9 November 2005 - 8:45 AM
260-4

Soil Science Education in Georgia: Expanding the Clientele.

L.T. West, D.E. Radcliffe, Todd Rasmussen, William P. Miller, Rhett Jackson, and L.A. Morris. University of Georgia, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Athens, GA 30602-7272

Because of the demand for soil information required for onsite system permitting, watershed assessments, wetland delineation, sediment and erosion control planning, and other resource assessments, Georgia has a viable soil science consulting industry and a demand for soil science graduates. The need to incorporate for soil resource information into land use decisions, however, reaches far these traditional areas. Thus, in an attempt to broaden student exposure to soil science principles and to increase the number of soil science majors, we have recently taken steps to ensure the long-term presence of soil science education at the University of Georgia. The first step was to create a new major called Water and Soil Resources in conjunction with the School of Forest Resources. Curricula for the current Environmental Soil Science and Hydrology option in Forest Resources were similar. Thus, combination of these two programs into a single joint major was relatively simple. The new major combines requisite courses in both soil science and hydrology and allows students to chose additional courses to enhance their education in either or both fields. The second step was to offer a freshman level course in water and soil resources. Often students have expressed interest in majoring in soil science, but have been too far along in their current major to make a change without appreciably extending the time needed to complete degree requirements. The intent of the lower division course is to attract beginning students with interest resource management to the Water and Soil Resources major. Our philosophy guiding these curriculum changes is that soil science is a viable and important profession but because of public perception, partnerships with related fields may be needed to ensure sustainability of the profession.

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