The Major

Required coursework includes University General Education requirements, a departmental core of 12 courses, five required courses related to environmental and natural resource issues, and five upper-level electives. Departmental core courses have been selected to provide the basic tools of economic theory and quantitative analysis and a perception of how our economic system works. The five required courses and five upper-level electives allow students to take coursework specifically focused on natural resource and environmental areas. Students are allowed considerable flexibility within the program. By careful selection of courses, it is possible to design a program which prepares a student for employment in a specific career or which provides a good foundation for graduate study. Some students also prepare for international careers.

Requirements

Fundamental Competencies

• One Calculus course – either MATH 127 - Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences I or MATH 131 - Calculus I
• RES-ECON 112 - Computing: Foundations to Frontiers
• RES-ECON 303 - Writing in Resource Economics (General Education Junior Year Writing course)

Microeconomics

• RES-ECON 102 - Introduction to Resource Economics. ECON 103 may be substituted.
• RES-ECON 202 - Price Theory. ECON 203 may be substituted.

Macroeconomics

• ECON 104 - Introduction to Macroeconomics
• ECON 204 - Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

Quantitative Decision Making

• RES-ECON 212 - Introductory Statistics for the Social Sciences. STATISTC 240 may be substituted.
• RES-ECON 213 - Intermediate Statistics for Business and Economics
• RES-ECON 313 - Decision Analysis 

Breadth Requirement

An introductory course in the department. Choose one of the following: RES-ECON 106 (formerly 162) - Economics is Everywhere or RES-ECON 107 (formerly 121) - Hunger in a Global Economy 

Integrated Experience Seminar

• RES-ECON 394LI - Life is Full of Choices (General Education Integrative Experience seminar, 1 credit).

Resource Economics Required Specialization Courses

• 262 Environmental Economics
• 263 Natural Resource Economics
• 471 Cost-Benefit Analysis (IE and Capstone)
• 472 Advanced Topics in Resource and Environmental Economics (IE and Capstone)
• Public Policy Requirement: ENVSCI 213 (Intro to Environmental Policy) or SPP 309/NRC 309 (Natural Resource Policy and Admin) or RES-ECON 360 (formerly 397E) (Economic Development & The Environment) or RES-ECON 363 (Formerly 397W) (Economics of Water Policy) or POLISCI 383 (Energy Policy)

Resource Economics Upper-Level Electives

The goal of the five upper-level elective courses is to add depth and/or breadth to the curriculum of the student’s chosen major. Courses taken to add depth will allow students to develop a specialization and/or acquire certain skills in a specific area of interest within their major. Courses taken to add breadth will allow students to touch on topics related to their major. All courses should be selected in conjunction with an advisor. Please refer to the Undergraduate Handbook for more specific information: https://www.umass.edu/resource-economics/academics/undergraduate/requirements.

Note: Departmental core and option requirements may not be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.

For the requirements for Commonwealth Honors College Departmental Honors in Resource Economics, see https://www.umass.edu/resource-economics/academics/undergraduate/honors.