Specializations
IAD students create their field of specialization and choose courses for it with approval from their advisor. Sample field of specializations with associated courses are listed below. This list not exhaustive, but intended to give students a sense of the breadth of possible specializations and courses. Though many sample specializations are aligned with departments, a specialization can combine classes from multiple departments. Students are encouraged to talk with advisors, faculty and fellow students to identify a focus area and courses that fit their career objectives.
Please note that the courses listed below may require prerequisites, and not all courses are offered every year. See the UC Davis General Catalog and UC Davis Class Search Tool for course scheduling and prerequisite information.
Notes on Field of Specializations
- All courses to be taken for the specialization must be approved by the student's academic advisor.
- Plan I (thesis) requires 12 units of coursework in the specialization; Plan II (exam) requires 18 units. At least 3 units must be in 200-level classes.
- Courses taken to fulfill IAD prerequisites cannot be used to satisfy the concentration (e.g., ARE 100A, PLS 110/PLS 111, PLS 120)
- A method course (see list below) is also highly recommended for students to incorporate in their study plans.
Below you can find examples of courses that IAD students take divided up by discipline. To access a more detailed list of courses, click on this link.
Agricultural and Resource Economics
ARE 100B Intermediate Microeconomics II (4)
ARE 106 Quantitative Methods in Agricultural Economics (Econometrics) (4)
ARE 155 Quantitative Analysis for Business Decisions (4)
ARE 156 Introduction to Mathematical Economics (4)
ARE 175 Natural Resource Economics (3)
ARE 176 Environmental Economics (3)
ARE 204A Microeconomic Analysis I (4)
ARE 204B Microeconomic Analysis II (4)
ARE 214 Economic Development (4)
ARE 215A Microdevelopment Theory and Methods I (4) (Ph. D. course)
ARE 215B Open Macroeconomics of Development (4) (Ph. D. course)
ARE 215C Microdevelopment Theory and Methods II (4) (Ph. D. course)
ARE 215D Environment and Economic Development (4) (Ph. D. course)
ARE 222 International Agricultural Trade and Policy (3)
ARE 252 Applied Linear Programming (4)
ARE 256A Applied Econometrics (4)
ARE 256B Applied Econometrics (4)
ARE 258 Supply and Demand Analysis
ARE 275 Economic Analysis of Resource and Environmental Policies (4)
ARE 276 Environmental Economics (4)
ARE 277 Natural Resource Economics (4)
Animal Science
Sample Courses
ANG 206 Advanced Domestic Animal Breeding (3)
ANG 211 Genetic Engineering of Animals (2)
ANS 115 Advanced Horse Production (4)
ANS 118 Fish Production (4)
ANS 119 Invertebrate Aquaculture (4)
ANS 123 Animal Growth and Development (4)
ANS 124 Lactation (4)
ANS 128 Agricultural Applications of Linear Programming (3)
ANS 143 Pig and Poultry Care and Management (4)
ANS 144 Beef Cattle and Sheep Production (4)
ANS 145 Meat Processing and Marketing (4)
ANS 146 Dairy Cattle Production (4)
ANS 147 Dairy Processing and Marketing (3)
ANS 148 Enterprise Analysis in Animal Industries (4)
NPB 121 Physiology of Reproduction (5)
NUT 110 Principles of Nutrition (5)
NUT 115 Animal Feed and Nutrition (4)
NUT 122 Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology (4)
NUT 124 Nutrition and Feeding of Finfishes (3)
NUT 202 Advanced Nutritional Energetics (2)
NUT 254 Applications of Systems Analysis in Nutrition (3)
Aquaculture
Sample Courses
ABI 102 Animal Biochemistry and Metabolism (4)
ABI 103 Animal Biochemistry and Metabolism (4)
ABT 161 Water Quality Management for Aquaculture (3)
ABT 163 Aquaculture Systems Engineering (3)
ANS 118 Fish Production (4)
ANS 131 Reproduction and Early Development in Aquatic Animals (4)
ANS 136A Aquatic Animal Growth Laboratory (2)
EBS 220 Pilot Plant Operations in Aquaculture Engineering (3)
EBS 245 Waste Management for Biological Production Systems (3)
ECI 243A Water and Waste Treatment (4)
EVE 112 Invertebrate Zoology (4)
EVE 112L Laboratory for Invertebrate Zoology (3)
NUT 124 Nutrition & Feeding of Finfishes (3)
WFC 120 Biology and Conservation of Fishes (3)
Community Development
Sample Courses
CRD 152 Community Development (4)
CRD 154 Social Theory and Community Change (4)
CRD 156 Community Economic Development (4)
CRD 157 Politics and Community Development (4)
CRD 240 Community Development Theory (4)
CRD 241 The Economics of Community Development (4)
SOC 145A Sociology of Third World Development (4)
SOC 206 Quantitative Analysis in Sociology (4)
WMS 182 Globalization, Gender and Identity (4)
Crop Systems/Science –
Students may choose a sub-focus in Production, Breeding & Genetics, or Physiology
Recommended Prerequisites:
(Some of the upper-division courses in this list may be applied to the area of concentration unit requirement, if approved by the academic advisor)
BIS 2C Introductory Biology (5) or PLS 2 Botany and Physiology of Cultivated Plants
BIS 101 Genes and Gene Expression (4)
BIS 102 Structure and Function of Biomolecules (3)
CHE 2A,B General Chemistry (10)
CHE 8A,B Organic Chemistry (4)
ENT 110 Arthropod Pest Management (5)
HYD 110 Irrigation Principles and Practices (3)
HYD 124 Plant-Water-Soil Relationships (4)
MAT 16A,B Short Calculus (3)
PLB 111 Plant Physiology (4) or PLS 100A Metabolic Processes of Cultivated Plants (3)
PLP 120 Introduction to Plant Pathology (4)
PLS 110A/L Principle of Agronomic Crop Production in Temperate and Tropical Systems (4)
PLS 110C Crop Management Systems for Vegetable Production (4)
PLS 120 Applied Statistics in Agricultural Science (4)
PLS 152 Plant Genetics (4)
SSC 100 Principles of Soil Science (4)
Sample Courses
ECL 216 Ecology and Agriculture (3)
ENT 110 Arthropod Pest Management (5)
EVE 102 Population and Quantitative Genetics (4)
GGG 201A Transmission Genetics (3)
GGG 291 Seminar in History of Genetics (2)
HYD 124 Plant-Water-Soil Relationships (4)
MCB 121 Advanced Molecular Biology (3)
PBI 210 Plant Ecophysiology (3)
PLB 105 Developmental Plant Anatomy (5)
PLB 117 Plant Ecology (4)
PLB 143 Evolution of Crop Plants (3)
PLP 120 Introduction to Plant Pathology (4)
PLS 100A Metabolic Processes of Cultivated Plants (3)
PLS 110A/L Principles of Agronomic Crop Production in Temperate and Tropical Systems (4)
PLS 110C Crop Management Systems for Vegetable Production (4)
PLS 150 Sustainability and Agroecosystem Management (4)
PLS 154 Introduction to Plant Breeding (4)
PLS 158 Mineral Nutrition of Plants (4)
PLS 171 Plant Propagation (4)
PLS 172 Postharvest Physiology and Technology (4)
PLS 176 Introduction to Weed Science (4)
PLS 205 Experimental Design and Analysis (4)
PLS 206 Multivariate Systems and Modeling (4)
PLS 213 Postharvest Physiology of Vegetables (3)
PLS 220 Biotechnology and Genetics of Crop Improvement (3)
PLS 222 Advanced Plant Breeding (4)
SSC 109 Nutrient Cycling and Management (5)
SSC 120 Soil Genesis, Morphology, and Classification (5)
ENT Entomology-Additional upper division and/or graduate courses
PLP Plant Pathology-Additional upper division and/or graduate courses
PBI/PLB Plant Biology-Additional upper division and/or graduate courses
PLS Plant Sciences – Additional upper division and/or graduate courses
Ecology
Students may choose a sub-focus in Crop Ecology, Range Ecology, or Forest Ecology
Sample Courses
BIS 101 Gene and Gene Expression (4)
BIS 102 Structure and Function of Biomolecules (3)
ECL 200 A,B Principles and Application of Ecological Theory (4,4)
ECL 206 Concepts and Methods in Plant Community Ecology (4)
ECL 216 Ecology and Agriculture (3)
ENT 110 Arthropod Pest Management (5)
EVE 100 Introduction to Evolution (4)
EVE 101 Introduction to Ecology (4)
EVE 102 Population and Quantitative Genetics (4)
IAD 160 Agroforestry: Global and Local Perspectives (3)
PLB 111 Plant Physiology (3)
PLB 112 Plant Growth and Development (3)
PLB 117 Plant Ecology (4)
PLS 100A Metabolic Processes of Cultivated Plants (3)
PLS 100C Environmental Interactions of Cultivated Plants (3)
PLS 120 Applied Statistics in Agriculture Science (4)
PLS 130 Rangelands: Ecology, Conservation and Restoration (3)
PLS 131 Identification and Ecology of Grasses (2)
PLS 135 Ecology and Community Structure of Grassland and Savannah Herbivores (3)
PLS 144 Trees and Forests (3)
PLS 150 Sustainability and Agroecosystem Management (4)
PLS 152 Plant Genetics (4)
SSC 100 Principles of Soil Science (5)
Gender
Sample Courses
CRD 153 International Community Development (4)
ECL 210 Advanced Topics in Human Ecology (4)
SOC 132 Sociology of Gender (4)
SOC 145A Sociology of Third World Development (4)
SOC 181 Social Change Organizations (4)
SOC 206 Quantitative Analysis in Sociology (4)
SOC 233 Gender, Culture, and Local/Global Transformation (4)
SOC 234 Gender, Family, and Society (4)
WMS 182 Globalization, Gender and Identity (4)
WMS 187 Gender and Social Policy (4)
Geography
Sample Courses
CRD 141 Organization of Economic Space (4)
CRD 142 Rural Change in the Industrialized World (3)
ESM 186 Environmental Remote Sensing with Lab (5)
EVE 138 Ecology of Tropical Latitudes (4)
GEO 200AN Geographical Concepts (4)
GEO 200BN Theory and Practice in Geography (4)
GEO 200DN Socio-Spatial Analysis in Geography (4)
GEO 290 Seminar in Selected Regions (4)
GEO 292 Seminar in Plant Geography (4)
WFC 156 Plant Geography (4)
WFC 157 Coastal Ecosystems (4)
Hydrology
Sample Courses
HYD 124 Plant-Water-Soil Relationships (4)
HYD 141 Physical Hydrology (4)
HYD 142 Systems Hydrology (4)
HYD 144 Groundwater Hydrology (3)
HYD 151 Field Methods in Hydrology (3)
HYD 200 Survey of Hydrologic Sciences (1)
HYD 210 Hydrologic Modeling of the Vadose Zone (3)
HYD 264 Modeling of Hydrologic Processes (3)
HYD 290 Selected from seminars offered (1)
SSC 107 Soil Physics (5)
Nutrition
Background or prerequisite coursework in basic chemistry, organic chemistry, physiology, and statistics desirable.
NUT 111AV Introduction to Nutrition and Metabolism (3)
NUT 111B Recommendations and Standards for Human Nutrition (2)
NUT 112 Nutritional Assessment (3)
NUT 114 Developmental Nutrition (4)
NUT 117 Experimental Nutrition (5)
NUT 118 Community Nutrition (4)
NUT 219A International Nutrition (3)
NUT 252 Nutrition and Development (3)
NUT 258 Field Research Methods in International Nutrition (3)
Plant Pathology
Sample Courses
ENT 110 Arthropod Pest Management (5)
NEM 100 General Plant Nematology (4)
PLB 148 Introductory Mycology (5)
PLP 120 Introduction to Plant Pathology (4)
PLP 205A,B Diseases of Vegetable and Field Crops (4,1)
PLP 206A,B Diseases of Fruit, Nut and Vine Crops (3,1)
PLP 290 Seminar (1)
PLS 158 Mineral Nutrition of Plants (4)
PLS 172 Postharvest Physiology and Handling of Horticultural Commodities (4)
PLS 176 Introduction to Weed Science (4)
SSC 100 Principles of Soil Science (4)
Range Science
Sample Courses
ABT 181N Geographic Information Systems Modeling (5)
ANS 144 Beef and Sheep Production (4)
ECL 206 Concepts and Methods in Plant Community Ecology (4)
NUT 122 Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology (4)
PLB 111 Plant Physiology (3)
PLB 112 Plant Growth and Development (3)
PLS 100A Metabolic Processes of Cultivated Plants (3)
PLS 100B Growth and Yield of Cultivated Plants (3)
PLS 120 Applied Statistics in Agriculture Science (4)
PLS 130 Rangelands: Ecology, Conservation and Restoration (3)
PLS 131 Identification and Ecology of Grasses (2)
PLS 135 Ecology and Community Structure of Grassland and Savannah Herbivores (3)
PLS 176 Introduction to Weed Science (4)
PLS 205 Experimental Design and Analysis (4)
PLS 206 Multivariate Systems and Modeling (4)
SSC 100 Principles of Soil Science (4)
Soil Science
Sample Courses
SSC 100 Principles of Soil Science (5)
SSC 102 Soil and Water Chemistry (5)
SSC 107 Soil Physics (5)
SSC 109 Nutrient Cycling and Management (5)
SSC 111 Soil Microbiology (4)
SSC 120 Soil Genesis, Morphology, and Classification (5)
SSC 211 Advanced Soil Microbiology (3)
SSC 219 Ecosystem Biogeochemistry (4)
SSC 290 Selected from seminars offered (1)
Method Courses:
EDU 238 Introduction to Participatory Action Research Methods (4)
GEO 200DN Socio-Spatial Analytic Geography (4)
LDA 202 Methods in Design and Landscape Research (4)
NUT 258 Field Research Methods in International Nutrition (3)
PLS 205 Experimental Design & Analysis (5)
PLS 206 Applied Multivariate Modeling in Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (4)
SOC 207A Methods of Quantitative Research (4)
WMS 200B Feminist Methods (4)