​​​Program Overview

The Ph.D. program in Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources is one of the major programs of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The program provides students the opportunity to gain knowledge, acquire skills, and conduct integrated research in environmental sciences and natural resources. The program offers an educational opportunity based on hands-on experience in state-of-the-art modeling software and advanced laboratory equipment. This program is further centered around the knowledge of the contemporary natural and environmental issues within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Currently, the Ph.D. program has two tracks: the Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources track; and the Water Resources Management track. The Ph.D. track in Environment and Natural Resources focuses on biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management, the ecology and management of terrestrial and marine resources, and the urban environment. The Ph. D. track in Water Resources Management focuses on groundwater hydrology and water resource management.

Vision

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment envisions excellence in education, research, and community services, focusing on the sciences and managing natural and environmental resources at the local, regional, and international levels. 

Mission 

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment strives to offer a unique curriculum of study, research, and community services in environmental sciences, environmental management, water resources development and management, and agricultural resource management. 

Program Objectives

The program aims to:

1. Offer an atmosphere of study and an opportunity of conducting research relative to regional and global concerns.
2. Integrate the latest development in sciences and technologies in the study and research projects that enable graduates to lead scientific communities.

​Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Ph.D. program will be able to:

1. Foster critical thinking in analyses and synthesize innovative solutions for the management of natural resources and environmental problems.
2. Master software and use current technologies for problem-solving related to the human environment and natural resources.
3. Lead research in their field of study.
4. Effectively utilize communication skills and lead group work.
5. Demonstrate professional collaborative work experience and continue life-long learning.

Program Outline

Currently, the Ph.D. program has two tracks: the Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources track; and the Water Resources Management track.  The Ph.D. track in Environment and Natural Resources focuses on biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management, the ecology and management of terrestrial and marine resources, and the urban environment. On the other hand, the Ph.D. track in Water Resources Management focuses on groundwater hydrology and water resource management.

During the first year of study (1^st and 2^nd semesters), students are expected to complete the minimum coursework set by the academic committee of the program. In the third semester of the study, upon successful completion of the student's course work, a proposal should be completed and presented to the academic committee of the program.

Research Areas 

Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources: 

Vegetation ecology.

• Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management
• Urban environment 
• Ecosystem environmental geochemistry policy and legislation;  and social/ management impact Water Resources Management:

• Effect of climate change on water resources in the GCC countries 
• Use of Simulation Models in Groundwater Resources Management in the GCC Countries 
  
  
• Sustainability of Water Resources Management Systems within the IWRM framework 
  
  
• Management of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Outline of Courses

Note: NREDE 7*9 Lab, Field and Case Studies.  The (*) is to represent 1 to 4 credit hours (not to exceed 4 credit hours of the total credit hours taken toward the degree). It can be registered as NREDE 719, NREDE 729, NREDE 739, NREDE 749.

​NREWM 7*9 Lab, Field and Case Studies.  The (*) is to represent 1 to 4 credit hours (not to exceed four credit hours of the total credit hours taken toward the degree). It can be registered as NREWM 719, NREWM 729, NREWM 739, and NREWM 749.

Note: The Ph.D. students need to complete the eight credit hours of core courses and eight credit hours of specialized courses. To complete the total minimum credit hours (24), the Ph.D. students can take courses from other programs or departments of no more than 8 hours based on the recommendation of the academic supervisor and approval of the Ph.D. academic committee.   

Method of Assessments

Summative and formative assessments are used to evaluating students' learning and skills acquisition and academic achievement during the defined instructional period.

Admissions Requirements

1. Applicants must hold a master's degree from AGU recognized institution with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 out of 4, equivalent to a B average.
2. TOEFL iBT 60, or IELTS 6 on the academic exam.
3. Statement of the proposal clearly stating the title and area of the proposed study, research questions to be answered, intended methodology to be used, objectives, significance, justification, and contribution of the research, along with expected outcomes.
4. Three letters of recommendation
5. Passing the required entrance exam and interview

For the two major track of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, graduates of the life sciences, agriculture, environmental sciences, environmental management, and civil engineering may be admitted. On the track of Water Resources Management, graduates majoring in hydrology or civil engineering may be accepted.  Applicants from other disciplines may consider either of the two tracks if they hold scientific credentials and/or research experience that is approved by the academic committee of the program. 

Graduation Requirements

1.      Completion of a minimum of 24 credit hours of course work, and 24 credit hours for the dissertation as follows: 

• Eight credit hours of department core courses.
• Eight credit hours of specialized courses within a student's track.
• Eight credit hours of 700 levels or less of specialized courses from the program track or other programs in the technical sphere of the graduate college.

2.      Completion and defense of the doctoral dissertation.

3.      The duration of the study is four years.

4.      Full-time residency during course work is required.

Program Faculty

• Mohammad S. Abido, Professor of  Ecology and Biodiversity
• Waleed Khalil Zubari, Professor of Water Resources Management
• Thamer Al-Dawood,  Professor of  Marine Biology
• Ahmed O. El-Kholei, Professor of Urban Planning
• Alaa Abdallah El-Sadek, Professor of Water Resources Management
• Abdelhadi Abdelwahab Mohamed, Associate Professor of Water Relations & Irrigation Water Management
• Maha Mahmood M. Saleh Alsabbagh, Assistant Professor of Energy and Climate Change Policies
• Sumaya Yusuf Hassan Abbas, Assistant Professor of Waste Management

Courses Description[1]

• NREDE 710 Seminar (1Cr) (110): A student may research or investigate a topic and exchange results with other students through the presentation, reports, and discussions under the supervision of a faculty member.
• NRE 720 Advanced Research Methods (2cr) (220): Critical analysis of scientific papers, research protocols, and ethics, the essence of scientific publishing, and current research topics.
• NRE 730 Quantitative Methods and Models (321): "This course enables students to use analytical, physical, and numerical models to represent, analyze and simulate quantitative aspects of natural static, dynamic, and spatial systems. The course involves the visualization, validation, verification, and sensitivity analysis of models applied."  (Offered each Spring Semester).
• NRE 731 Topics in Natural and Environmental Resources (3cr) (330): This course explores geosystems. It examines processes within the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. The course provides a holistic understanding of the earth's historical, present, and future systems. Water, Energy, Food, Environment, and Climate Change inter-dependencies and inter-linkages, challenges and opportunities, governance and institutional structures, policies, Laws and Legislation, Integrated natural resources management and planning. (Offered each Fall Semester)
• NREDE 722 Ecological Methods (2Cr) (211): Data acquisition and data analysis, sampling methods; quantitative assessment of ecosystem components; statistical methods used to study terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
• NREDE 721 Criteria and Indicators (2Cr) (220): Concepts of criteria and indicators; methodological aspects; relevance; the environmental, institutional, and social dimensions of indicators; systems indicators; sustainability indicators and indices; along with case studies.
• NREDE 722 Biodiversity Informatics (2Cr) (211): Concepts and definitions of biodiversity information management, biodiversity data collection and analysis, data cleaning and data publishing, database design and structure, database access and management, niche modeling, taxon databases, biodiversity informatics initiatives in the world.
• NREDE 723 Environmental Risk Management (2Cr) (220): Risk assessment in the context of environmental complexities, environmental issues and firms' environmental and social accountability, environmental management system, environmental resources and sustainable development; risk management; prevention, mitigation, and compensation, policy and risk governance.
• NREDE 724 Environmental modeling (2Cr) (211): Introduction to data visualization and modeling, development and analysis of ecological models, applications in the fields of natural resources and environmental sciences, including biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of natural resources, disease control, and the adaptations to the impacts of climate change.
• NREDE 725 Advanced Statistical Analysis (2Cr) (211): Design of experiments, analysis of variance, non-parametric tests, chi-square, orthogonal and multiple comparisons, analysis of covariance, regression models, multivariate analysis.
• NREDE 730 Population and Community Ecology (3cr) (211): Abundance, distribution, demographics of populations, dynamic regulating mechanisms, composition and organization of communities, sampling procedures, data collection, and data analysis.
• NREDE 731 Ecosystem Restoration (3Cr) (321): Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of ecosystems, principles of ecological restoration, impacts of abiotic and biotic-induced changes, site assessment, planning for restoration, legal and policy frameworks of restoration activities, restoration techniques, habitat case studies.
• NREDE 732 Ecological Methods (3Cr) (321): data acquisition and data analysis, sampling methods; quantitative assessment of ecosystem components; statistical methods used to study terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
• NREDE 733 Wildlife Ecology and Management (3Cr) (321): Basics of wildlife ecology, food, and cover, population dispersal, dispersion and distribution, growth, regulation, analysis of stage and age, viability, survival, animal behavior, hunting, and harvesting, estimating population abundance, wildlife techniques in the field.
• NREDE 734 Advanced Environmental Pollution (3Cr) (321): Measurement and monitoring of air, soil and water pollution, pollutants modeling, pollutants effect on terrestrial and aquatic organisms and ecosystems.
• NREDE 735 Ecosystem Biogeochemistry (3Cr) (321): Analysis of nutrient transfers within terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Examination of processes and interactions between the biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.
• NREDE 736 Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (3Cr) (321): Drivers and pressures of climate change, sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, climate systems and climate change scenarios, vulnerability analysis, impact assessment, mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
• NREDE 737 Ecology and Management of Urban Ecosystem (3Cr) (321): socioeconomic and ecological components of the urban ecosystem, interactions among social, physical and biological aspects of city ecosystems, the ecology of resilience cities, management of urban green areas.
• NREDE 7*9 Lab, Field and Case Studies (* = 1 to 4 hrs.): A student may choose or be assigned to a topic that falls outside the scope of the AGU courses. This is done through his/her advisor to accommodate the special needs of the research. A specific title may be used in each instance, and this will be recorded on the student's transcript.
• NREDE 7024 Dissertation (24hrs): A student will choose a topic for his/her dissertation that reflects original, technical work in environmental sciences and natural resources. The topic must make a significant contribution to the knowledge in the field, which must be documented and the hypothesis must be defended through the use of current scientific knowledge.
• NREWM 720 Managed Aquifer Recharge (2Cr): Fundamentals of managed aquifer recharge, sources of recharging water, types of recharge (ASR, SAT, and ASTR), Site selection and criteria, Simulation modeling and hydraulic performance indicators, Health risk assessment, monitoring, legislation.
• NREWM 721 Economics of Water Management (2Cr): Economic dimensions of water, water as an economic good, value and cost, financing and PPP, investment policies, valuing water resources, water pricing theory.
• NREWM 722 Water Security (2Cr): Definitions, securing water supply and sustainable water supply, components of water security, water-energy-food nexus security, and national integrated emergency preparedness planning.
• NREWM 730 Water Governance, Policies and Laws (3Cr): Definitions, Water governance, policies and legislation in the GCC countries, a critical analysis.
• NREWM 731 Advanced Groundwater Modeling Techniques (3Cr): Advanced groundwater topics in heterogeneous porous media, groundwater remediation techniques, deterministic vs. stochastic modeling, uncertainties and parameter realizations, Monte Carlo and Latin hypercube simulation.
• NREWM 732 Stochastic Methods in Hydrology (3Cr): Hydraulics of open channels, advanced statistical and stochastic methods in analyzing hydrological data series, stochastic modeling of hydrological processes at spatial and temporal domains, stochastic optimization methods used to address water resources planning and management.
• NREWM 733 Vadose Zone Flow and Contaminant Transport (3Cr): Principles of mechanics of two-phase fluid systems in soils and porous rocks, static systems, steady and unsteady flows, homogenous and heterogeneous porous systems, soil moisture characteristic curves, mathematical modeling of water and contaminant transport in unsaturated zones. 
• NREWM 734 Physical and Chemical Processes of Water Quality, Modeling and Control (3Cr): Assessment of water quality for beneficial uses, point and non-point sources of pollution, fate and transport of waterborne pollutants, modeling and design aspects of physical, chemical and biological processes of water quality.
• NREWM 735 Watershed Processes, Modeling, and Management (3Cr): Concept of watershed, watershed modeling, modern techniques in watershed management (GIS, RS, DSS), social aspects, watershed management policies, sustainable watershed approaches.
• NREWM 736 Urban Water System Management (3Cr): Water supply distribution network design and operation, leakage control, demand management, wastewater collection networks, water and public health, water safety plans, water supply emergency planning.
• NREWM 737 Benchmarking for Effectively Managed Water Utilities (3Cr): Introduction to benchmarking, benchmarking in water and sanitation sectors, institutionalization of benchmarking, benchmarking performance indicators, methods for benchmarking, performance improvement.
• NREWM 738 Advanced Agricultural Water Management (3Cr) (321): Irrigation water indenting and efficiency. Quality of irrigation water and determination of leaching requirements. Evaluation of irrigation systems performance. Concepts of deficit irrigation and applications in irrigation water management. Management of agricultural water drainage. Reuse of drainage water. APSIM "The Agricultural Production Systems
• sIMulator", economic, environmental and social aspects for agricultural water management, good agricultural practices, SDG2, SDG6, etc… and climate change.
• NREWM 739 Soil-Plant-Water Relationships (3Cr) (321): Soil physical properties, main weather parameters that affect crop production, Reliability of climatic data. Determination of the length of the season and effective rainfall. Evaporation from free water surface, wet soil and evapotranspiration as affected by weather parameters. movement of water through soil, soil water potential, the root system, water movement through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, plant water requirement, CropWat and ClimWat programs for the estimation of reference crop evapotranspiration, modelling the unsaturated zone using Hydrus, model the impact of climate change.
• NREWM 739X Managed Aquifer Recharge and Water Harvesting (3Cr) (321): Fundamentals of managed aquifer recharge, Sources of recharging water, Types (ASR, SAT, and ASTR), Site selection and criteria, simulation modeling and hydraulic performance indicators, Health risk assessment, monitoring, legislation. Water harvesting, Macro and micro-water harvesting techniques.

[1] First number refers to total credit hours; while second and third numbers refer to number of lecture and lab hours consecutively.