JD/PhD in Natural Resources Science and Management: Curriculum

Law School Curriculum

Law School JD degree requirements for students entering Fall 2009 include satisfactory completion of 88 semester credits, and six semesters of full-time enrollment (defined as 12 semester credits or more). First-year students are required to take a core curriculum totaling 30 credits and comprised of the following courses: Beyond that, all courses are elective, except that a student must take a course in Professional Responsibility (3 credits) and Constitutional Law II (3 credits) before graduating. In addition, each student must satisfy a second-year writing requirement (typically by participating in a moot court or serving as a staff member on one of the Law School's law reviews), as well as a third-year writing requirement (typically satisfied by taking a course meeting this requirement, completing an independent research paper meeting this requirement, which may be an MS thesis, Plan B paper, PhD dissertation, or capstone project, or serving as an editor on one of the Law School's law reviews).

To see requirements for students entering in years other than 2009, visit www.law.umn.edu/current/degreerequirements.html.

In addition, all students in the Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences take a professional seminar. This 1-credit Proseminar is taught cooperatively by faculty involved in the Joint Degree Program, offered on a pass-fail basis, and required each Fall semester that a student is enrolled in the Joint Degree Program.

JD/PhD in Natural Resources Science and Management

Interdisciplinary NRSM degree programs are tailored to individual student backgrounds, subject matter interests, and objectives. Graduate students are expected to acquire 2 sets of knowledge and skills: (1) an understanding of the basic components of natural resource management and the science needed to support that management, and (2) specialized knowledge and skills applicable to one or more of the 7 specified tracks of study:

• Forests: biology, ecology, conservation, and management
• Economics, policy, management, and society
• Assessment, monitoring, and geospatial analysis
• Recreation resources, tourism, and environmental education
• Forest hydrology and watershed management
• Forest products
• Paper science and engineering

The PhD program is designed to ensure that students gain necessary competence in their chosen track for independent research. Incoming graduate students. academic and experience backgrounds are carefully reviewed and, with the guidance of an advisor and the Graduate Study Committee, a coursework program is developed to provide the necessary background to meet the student.s objectives and to enable specialization in the track. Coursework requirements for each track and degree program are determined by the student.s adviser and committee and must be approved by the Graduate Study Committee. There are no specific courses required for all students, but all PhD students must take at least 2 graduate seminars during their program, one of which may be the Joint Degree Program Proseminar (LAW 6875, 1 credit) if a student so petitions. In addition, students must have either taken at some point in their background, or take during their program, advanced coursework in both statistics and in their track.

Students are allowed to enroll and graduate in the NRSM umbrella program without a chosen track. However, they are strongly encouraged to select a single track by the end of their first year of study. Students will not be allowed to pursue more than one track simultaneously. Under the semester system, PhD degree programs normally vary from 40 to 60 course credits. Although the Graduate School does not specify a minimum number of required credits for the major field, PhD students take at least 12 credits in a minor or supporting program (which may be Law) and register for 24 doctoral thesis credits. Preliminary written, preliminary oral, and final oral examinations are required, as well as a thesis that shows originality, the ability to conduct independent research, mastery of the relevant literature, and familiarity with the sources and methods of research, and that contributes new knowledge to the field.

Combining Curricula

Students in the Joint Degree Program combine their Law and science/health curricula by cross-counting up to 12 Law credits in their science or health program and up to 12 non-law credits in their Law School program. For more details, click on "Cross-Counting Courses" above.

JD/MS or JD/PhD students are eligible for a minor in bioethics, bioinformatics, or human genetics.