Hydrology and Water Resources
This specialisation will allow you to develop yourself as a hydrologist and gain a state-of-the-art in-depth understanding of hydrological processes at various scales, embedded in a relevant societal context, as well as a technical skill-set aimed to complement the hydrological process knowledge.
About the specialisation
You are interested in the water cycle in relation to the earth surface, and how this is influenced by climate change, land-use change, and humans. This specialisation allows you to gain in-depth understanding, both theoretically and applied, of hydrological processes and hydrological extremes (floods and drought) across spatial scales. Several track suggestions (see below) will guide you through the fields of catchment hydrology, ecohydrology, river flow and morphology, and hydrometeorology, with elements of hydrogeology, sediment transport, and soil physics.
Hydrological processes closely relate to other disciplines, such as soil science, vegetation science, geomorphology, and meteorology; the MSc Earth and Environment gives you the opportunity to explore aligned fields. By combining system thinking with technical skills related to advanced modelling techniques, observations and novel data sources, you improve our understanding of hydrological processes in order to improve management of water systems.
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Suggested learning paths
The schematic overview (on the right) shows the overall structure of the specialisation. All specialisations consists of courses, an academic master cluster, a thesis and an internship.
Within the specialisation you can choose between suggested learning paths focussing on:
- Ecohydrology
- Environmental fluid dynamics in Rivers and Deltas
- Hydrogeology
- Land management
- Riverine plastic transport
You are also welcome to develop your own programme, by combining elements from these tracks or choosing courses from other MEE specialisations or other programmes.
Examples of the work-field
About one third of the graduates of Specialisation A starts with a job as specialist or adviser/consultant. This can for example be in the field of (operational) water and river management at a water board, but also as consultant for engineering firms such as Arcadis, Witteveen+Bos, SWECO or drinking water companies. About one fifth of the graduates continues as a researcher, either as a PhD-candidate or at a research institute such as Deltares or WenR. Jobs are found all over the world.