text: The discipline of Natural Resource engineering specifically concentrates on natural resources. Natural resources are "industrial materials and capacities (such as mineral deposits and water power) supplied by nature"  and sometimes legally are classified by their ability to be used by humans to meet their demands. Natural resources can be both living and non-living natural elements and include fossil fuels, plants, animals, minerals, sediment, and bodies of water.  Areas of research and development in natural resources engineering concerning the hydro-logical cycle include: erosion control, flood control, water quality renovation and management, irrigation, drainage, bio-remediation, air quality, watershed-stream assessment, and ecological engineering.
  This discipline of engineering also involves investigating different natural and societal forces on the environment. The main natural force researched by natural resources engineers is the hydro-logical cycle. This cycle is concerned with how water transitions through the environment through the processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and transpiration. This cycle is a concern when looking at prevalent environmental issues on the earth, and therefore is a major concern for natural resource engineers. The main societal force that concerns natural resource engineers is the exploitation of natural resources by humans. This force concerns natural resource engineers because it threatens to deplete or harm many sources of natural resources.
  With this concentration on natural resources and natural and societal impact, natural resource engineers are constantly searching for ways to apply engineering concepts to create developments that aim to protect, maintain, and establish sustainable sources of natural resources. Some current areas of research and developments include: finding ways to maximize the utilization of natural resources in fuel with minimum waste, developing infrastructure and equipment with the intent to provide protection for the overall environment and sources of natural resources, finding solutions to current environmental issues that directly impacted sources of natural resources such as soil erosion, sediment loss, flooding, and pollution, seeking efficient ways to manage natural resources so they will not be depleted, and finding ways to conserve and allocate resources efficiently as the population increases dramatically.