The water resources minor offers broad training in spatial perspectives of sociopolitical and biophysical dimensions of water resources at local, regional, national, and international scales. As climate changes and the population grows in many parts of the world, water resource sustainability becomes an increasingly urgent issue for our sustainable future. This minor is designed to broaden and deepen your knowledge and experience in complex water resource issues.
Uniquely situated at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Willamette River, Portland provides an ideal laboratory to examine the biophysical and human dimensions of various water issues from mountains to oceans along a rural and urban gradient.
Internationally recognized faculty study various aspects of water resource issues from North America to Asia to Africa. You can obtain cross-comparative cultural perspectives over the use of water and why political and economic conflicts are sometimes intertwined with water issues.
With this degree, you can boost your employment opportunity in the public and private sectors that address challenging water issues and complement the work you’re completing in any major. The water resource minor provides you with the foundational skills to explore solve practical water resource problems related to drought, flooding, and water quality and understand weather, climate, and water phenomena, and interpret the effects of these phenomena on Earth's surface and society.