Graduate Degree Program
The Environmental and Water Studies Program in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering covers a broad spectrum of technical specialities including hydraulics, hydrology, environmental fluid mechanics, environmental engineering and science, hazardous substance control, and environmental planning. Course offerings are scheduled to permit either intensive study in a single area or interrelated study between areas. Seminars provide a broad coverage of environmental and water problems.

The department welcomes applicants with backgrounds in all areas of engineering and science who are interested in applying their specialized abilities to the solution of environmental and water problems. Compreensive introductory courses in each major area of study are given to provide a common basis of understanding among those with dissimilar backgrounds. Programs of study are highly flexible to allow for diversity and to encourage the development of either intensive or broadened abilities. The two major areas of specialization in the graduate program are:

1) Environmental Engineering and Science
2) Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology

Admissions to these two degree programs is handled separately. Prospective students should clearly indicate their preference on the application by specifying one or the other degree under "Field of Specialization."

Within the Environmental Engineering and Science Program the major focus is on water quality and hazardous substance control, but air and land pollution, as well as broader aspects of environmental concern are also covered. Thus, the physico-chemical, biological, and engineering aspects of water quality and water pollution control, including groundwater remediation and hazardous chemical treatment, can be studied in depth. There is also opportunity for specialization in atmospheric chemistry, physics, and pollutant transport. Related programs afford a broad range of offerings in the earth sciences, fluid mechanics, energy systems, and environmental and water resources planning and impact assessment.

The Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology Program focuses on developing an understanding of the physical processes controlling the movement of mass, energy, and momentum in the water environment and the atmosphere. The program also considers environmental and institutional issues involved in planning water resources development projects. Environmental fluid mechanics courses address experimental methods; fluid transport and mixing processes; the fluid mechanics of stratified flows; natural flows in coastal waters, estuaries, lakes, and open channels; and turbulence and its modeling.

Hydrology courses consider flow and transport in porous media, stochastic methods in both surface and subsurface hydrology, and watershed hydrology and modeling. Atmosphere-related courses deal with climate, weather, storms, and air pollution and the modeling of these. Planning courses emphasize environmental policy implementation and sustainable water resources development.

Click here for M.S., Eng, and Ph.D. degree requirements.