The College of Resources and Environmental Sciences (CRES) was inaugurated in 1996 on the basis of the Department of Soil Science and Agro-chemistry at Nanjing Agricultural University. The roots of CRES can be traced back to the Soil Science discipline in the agronomy department of former South-East University (later named as Jinglin University) in 1922. The Department of Soil Science and Agro-chemistry at Nanjing Agricultural College (former name of current Nanjing Agricultural University) was set up from a merge of the Department of Agro-chemistry at the National Central University, the Soil Science discipline at Jinling University and part of the Department of Agro-chemistry at Zhejiang University in 1952. At present, CRES has 102 faculty and staff members, including 36 professors, and 38 associate professors and senior scientists, and some of them are awarded national-class scholars, such as National Distinguished Teacher, National Thousand Talents Program Scholar, National Outstanding Youth Scientist, and National Outstanding Scholars for Agriculture Research.

The College's educational and research programs are geared towards contemporary, real-world issues, with 600 full time undergraduate and 740 graduate students pursuing three BSc programs, six MSc programs and five PhD programs. Currently, the college owns one Key Lab of plant nutrition and fertilization, the Ministry of Agriculture, P.R. China; one Provincial Key Lab of bio-fertilizers, one Provincial Key Lab of low carbon agriculture and greenhouse gases mitigation; one Provincial Key Lab of marine biology; as well as one Engineering Center for resource-saving fertilizers, the Ministry of Education, P.R. China.

Faculty, staff, and students at CRES are at the cutting edge of researches in the geosciences, life sciences, and environmental sciences, by taking its scientific credits to the world’s top 1% in the field of ecology and environmental sciences in the ranks of ESI (Essential Science Indicators database). The college’s discipline of agricultural resource and environment including the disciplines of soil science, plant nutrition and agricultural environment protection has been evaluated as one of the threenational grade-one keydisciplines by the Ministry of Education, P.R. China. The mission of the College, which encompasses research, education, and extension programs, allows for the creation and dissemination of knowledge that improves agricultural resources utilization and protects environment for not only citizens of Jiangsu, but also the nation, and people around the world.