A senior project (thesis or internship) is done through a sequence of three courses, 480, 497 (thesis) or 485 (internship), and 481. This sequence is best thought of as a "sandwich," with one credit of project planning (480) before and one credit of project presentation (481) after the actual thesis or internship. If the project is done during the summer before the senior year, the student should take For 480 in the spring semester of the junior year.
       480 and 481 are Forest Resources courses; 497 or 485 are taken in the department of the faculty mentor/advisor, which may be a different department. For example, a senior doing a project on wildlife would register for For 480, Wlf 497 or 485, and For 481.
       The sequence is typically taken over three semesters or two semesters and one summer: for example, one spring semester for planning the project (including writing a proposal and presenting a poster), one summer for actually doing it, and one follow-up semester to write the final report and prepare and present a poster. IF THE PROJECT IS DONE ENTIRELY DURING THE SUMMER, AS ARE MANY INTERNSHIPS, THE STUDENT MUST REGISTER FOR 2 SUMMER CREDITS. However, if the project is being done during all or part of a regular academic semester or semesters (such as working with a faculty member or a graduate student’s ongoing research), the student could register for both 481 and 497 or 485 concurrently. For example, you might register for 480, start the actual work before the end of the semester and finish it at the beginning of the next semester while taking 481—and adding the two credits of 485 or 497 during the same semester as 481 is being taken. Under exceptional circumstances, and only with the agreement of the instructor and mentor, the project (497 or 485) can be done concurrently with 480, but this is not recommended.

Course Descriptions (from the UI General Catalog):

For 480 Senior Project Planning (1 cr). Planning, writing, and talking about a proposed senior project (thesis or internship); taken before or concurrently with or FISH/FOR/RNGE/RRT/WLF 485 Natural Resources Ecology and Conservation Biology Internship. Prereq: senior standing.

For 485 Natural Resources Ecology and Conservation Biology Internship (2 cr). Same as Fish/ForP/Rnge/RRT/ WLF 485. Professional work experience in natural rsources ecology and conservation biology; learning objectives and a specific plan for the internship experience must be developed in For 480 before starting the internship; after completing the internship, students will prepare oral and written presentation of their work experience in For 481 Prereq or coreq: For 480.
OR
For 497 Senior Thesis (2 cr). Same as Fish/ForP/Rnge/RRT/ WLF 497. Independently plan and conduct a thesis project; write and defend the thesis under supervision of an adviser. Prereq: senior standing, and minimum 3.20 GPA or perm.

For 481 Senior Project Presentation (1 cr). Reporting and presenting the senior project (thesis or internship); taken after or concurrently with FISH/FOR/RNGE/RRT/WLF 485 Natural Resources Ecology and Conservation Biology Internship. Prereq: For 480.