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Rausser College of Natural Resources

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The Rausser College of Natural Resources (RCNR), or Rausser College, is the oldest college at the University of California, Berkeley and in the University of California system. Established in 1868 as the College of Agriculture under the federal Morrill Land-Grant Acts, CNR is the first state-run agricultural experiment station. The college is home to four internationally top-ranked academic departments: Agriculture and Resource Economics; Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology; and Plant and Microbial Biology, and one interdisciplinary program, Energy and Resources Group. Since February 2020, it is named after former dean and distinguished professor emeritus Gordon Rausser after his landmark $50 million naming gift to the college.[3]

Rausser College of Natural Resources
Wellman and Hilgard Halls, the frontispieces of Rausser College
Former names
College of Agriculture
College of Natural Resources
TypePublic professional school
Established1868[1]
Parent institution
University of California, Berkeley
DeanDavid Ackerly[2]
Academic staff
120
Undergraduates2,200
Postgraduates500
Location
Berkeley
,
California
,
United States

37°52′21″N 122°15′52″W / 37.872637°N 122.264502°W / 37.872637; -122.264502
Websitenature.berkeley.edu

History

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Plans for the creation of this public university were first developed at the 1849 Constitutional Convention, but when the State of California was established in 1850, it lacked the funds necessary to create such a school. Missionaries sent west by the Home Mission Society of New York, however, created the College of California and eventually transferred its ownership to the State in 1855.

By 1862, the State had secured the land necessary to establish a college as a result of the Morrill Act. This college was known as the Agricultural Mining and Mechanical Arts College, and opened formally in 1866.

On March 23, 1868, Governor H.H. Haight combined the resources of this college with the College of California to create the first University of California.[4]

The Board of Regents began admitting women to the University of California in 1871, and the first woman to graduate was Rosa L. Scrivner, with a PhB in Agriculture.[5]

On February 29, 2020, former dean Gordon Rausser made a $50 million dollar donation to the college, which then changed its name to the Rausser College of Natural Resources in honor of the gift.[3]

Campus

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The original College of Agriculture consisted of the Hilgard, Wellman, and Giannini halls. Today, Rausser has expanded to occupy the Koshland, Morgan, and Mulford buildings.[6]

Located on the northwest end of the Berkeley campus, the college comprises six main buildings. These include the historic group of Wellman, Hilgard, and Giannini halls that composed the original college. This trio, known as the Agriculture Complex, is the most unified grouping of buildings on campus.[7] They are on the National Register of Historic Places and are visually unified by a Mediterranean landscape of olive and stone pine trees.

The first hall, Wellman Hall, was designed under neoclassical architecture in 1912 by John Galen Howard. It was named after Harry R. Wellman, professor of agricultural economics and acting president of the university.[8]

Hilgard Hall was constructed six years later by the same architect, and it was named after Eugene W. Hilgard, professor of agricultural chemistry and father of modern soil science. Its neoclassical design is inscribed with the phrase "To Rescue for Human Society the Native Values of Rural Life."[9]

Giannini Hall was designed by Howard's co-worker William Charles Hays through an endowment from the Bancitaly Corporation (now known as Bank of America) in memory of their founder, Amadeo Giannini.

Departments

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  1. Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE) researches global food production, nutrition and health, development economics, climate change, environmental economics, applied econometrics, policy evaluation, energy economics, natural resource economics, and international trade.[10] Admissions to ARE's graduate program are highly competitive, with an acceptance rate of 8.8%.[11] ARE offers one undergraduate major, Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Environmental Economics and Policy (EEP). ARE is chaired by Jeremy Magruder.
  2. Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM) is the largest department within Rausser College, with three interrelated divisions Ecosystems Sciences, Organisms and Environment, and Society and Environment divisions. Research, teaching and outreach themes include biosphere/critical zone, biodiversity/dynamic environments, stewardship and environmental changes, and humanity and future earth. Admissions to ESPM's graduate program are highly competitive, with an acceptance rate of 8.75%.[12] ESPM graduates may earn a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, a M.A. in Forestry, or a M.S. in Range Management. ESPM also offers five undergraduate majors: Conservation and Resource Studies (CRS), Environmental Sciences (ES), Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR), Molecular Environmental Biology (MEB), and Society and Environment (SE).[13] ESPM is chaired by George Roderick.
  3. Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology (NST) researches the function of nutrients, phytochemicals, toxicants, and the metabolic interaction of these elements in living organisms in order to inform recommendations for dietary patterns to achieve optimum health and the treatment or prevent of chronic disease conditions.[14] NST offers doctoral degrees in Molecular and Biochemical Nutrition, as well as in Molecular Toxicology. The department oversees one undergraduate major program in Nutritional Sciences, with specialized tracks in Physiology & Metabolism, Dietetics, and Molecular Toxicology.[15] NST is chaired by Andreas Stahl.
  4. Plant and Microbial Biology encompasses theoretical and applied research in ecology, computational biology, genomics, host-microbe interactions, physiology, and biochemistry. It offers a Ph.D. in Plant or Microbial Biology, and oversees two similarly named undergraduate major programs. PMB is chaired by John Coates.
  5. Energy and Resources Group (ERG) provides education and research for a sustainable environment and a just society. ERG is a collaborative community of graduate students, core faculty, over 100 affiliated faculty and researchers across the campus, and nearly 500 alumni across the globe. Degrees include MA, MS, and PhD. Beginning in the 2017-18 academic year, ERG is chaired by Dan Kammen.

Research

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Centers

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  • Berkeley Food Institute
  • Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity
  • Berkeley Water Center
  • Center for Diversified Farming Systems
  • Center for Effective Global Action
  • Berkeley Forests
  • Energy Biosciences Institute
  • Plant Gene Expression Center

Facilities

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  • Biological Imaging Facility
  • Geospatial Innovation Facility
  • Gill Tract
  • Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy Facility
  • Oxford Facility Unit

References

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  1. ^ Mission and History - Rausser College of Natural Resources
  2. ^ UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources. "Message". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b Kara Manke (February 29, 2020). "College of Natural Resources receives $50 million naming gift". Rausser College of Natural Resources. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  4. ^ "Daniel Coit Gilman and the Early Years of UC - Special Topics - A History of UCSF". history.library.ucsf.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  5. ^ "Full text of "Graduates, 1864-1905. November 1905"". www.archive.org. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  6. ^ "College of Natural Resources" (PDF). Forms & Petitions. University of California, Berkeley. February 2016.
  7. ^ Riggs, William; Knapp, Frederic (2012-01-01). "Hilgard Hall (John Galen Howard) Historic Structures Report".
  8. ^ "University of California: In Memoriam, 1997". texts.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  9. ^ "National Register #82004647: Hilgard Hall on UC Berkeley Campus, California". noehill.com. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  10. ^ "About". Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics | University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  11. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics | University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  12. ^ "| Our Environment at Berkeley". Our Environment at Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  13. ^ "| Our Environment at Berkeley". Our Environment at Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  14. ^ "Graduate Program". Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology | University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  15. ^ "Undergraduate Program". Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology | University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
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