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Online and Distance Education

Soil Science

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Program Contact

Dr. Owen Duckworth Professor, Dept of Crop & Soil Sciencesowduckwo@ncsu.edu
Master's Degrees | Soil Science | Courses

Courses

Once admitted to the program, students will select an advisor from the full-time faculty who will help plan their program. Our Soil Science faculty understands that field skills are indispensable for a complete education in the soil science field. We have designed our program to require two hours of credit in intensive field skills training. To satisfy this need, we are offering classes in soil geomorphology and hydric soils which concentrate this training into four or five day-long classes.

The Master of Soil Science degree requires the successful completion of:

  • at lease 21 hours of letter graded graduate courses at the 500/700 level
  • at least four of the following Soil Science courses:

Units: 4

Soil physical properties and theory of selected instrumentation to measure them. Topics including soil solids, soil water, air and heat. Emphasis on transport processes and the energy concept of soil and water.

Offered in Fall Only

Units: 3

A consideration of the chemical and colloidal properties of clay and soil systems, including ion exchange and retention, soil solution reactions, solvation of clays and electrokinetic properties of clay-water systems.

Offered in Spring Only

Units: 3

Soil as a medium for microbial growth, the relation of microbes to important mineral transformations in soil, the importance of biological equilibrium and significance of soil microbes to environmental quality.

Offered in Spring Only

Units: 3

Soil conditions affecting plant growth and the chemistry of soil and fertilizer interrelationships. Factors affecting the availability of nutrients. Methods of measuring nutrient availability.

Units: 3

Morphology: Chemical, physical and mineralogical parameters useful in characterizing soil. Genesis: soil-forming factors and processes. Classification: historical development and present concepts of soil taxonomy with particular reference to worldwide distribution of great soil groups as well as discussions of logical bases of soil classification.

  • 3 credits of SSC 675 Project in Soil Science
  • 1 credit of SSC 601 Seminar

All students will complete a project in coordination with their advisor to satisfy the SSC 675 Project in Soil Science requirement.