Our hydrogeology program was listed among
the 100 top hydrogeology programs in North America in 2010 by the National Ground Water Association,
the largest groundwater association in the world. More than 400 programs were
considered including international programs with a goal to give prospective
students a list of strong options and contacts. Factors considered in the
selection process, centered on the length and strength of the program, as well
as its faculty.
Graduate Hydrogeology
specialization in the department was approved by UNL Graduate Council in 1998
and includes V. Zlotnik, Advisory Committee Chair, J.B. Gates, and D.T.
Pederson. Strong emphasis is made on the
fundamental physical and chemical processes of groundwater flow and mass and
energy transport in the subsurface and fieldwork. The program well prepares
graduates for successful careers
in academia, federal and state agencies, and industry in the U.S. and abroad. Graduating
students publish papers in the major academic and professional journals and at the
national and international meetings, obtain research funding from AGU, GSA, NSF,
and AAPG,
and earned academic awards for their work. For outstanding students, the Hydrogeology Fellowship is available.
Strengths of the hydrogeology
program are in groundwater-surface water interactions, aquifer hydraulics and
hydrogeophysics, vadose zone studies, and groundwater flow and transport
modeling. Our program integrates hydrogeology with surface hydrology, climate,
and atmospheric processes studies. Applied aspects of the program have links to
groundwater resources management, protection, and remediation. There is
considerable research and teaching interaction between our Department and the School of Natural Resources, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering,
Conservation and Survey Division, and CALMIT with
vast opportunities in hydrology, geomorphology, soil physics, isotope
geochemistry, remote sensing, and
Requirements
Students
must complete an M.S. or Ph.D. in Geosciences. M.S. students must complete
20-24 hours of regular course work and present a thesis equivalent to 6 to 10
semester hours. At least 14 hours must be selected from the Hydrogeology course
list and at least 10 must be core courses in the Hydrogeology curriculum. Eight
hours credit, in addition to the thesis, must be earned in courses open
exclusively to graduate students. Ph.D. students must complete at least 32
hours of regular course work (12 after completion of the M.S. degree) with 16
hours selected from the Hydrogeology course list.
The Hydrogeology Course List
(Core courses
are shown in bold type; asterisks indicate courses without 400 or lower
counterparts)
Department of Earth and
Atmospheric Sciences
GEOL 818 - Chemistry of Natural Waters (3 cr)
GEOL 818L - *Chemistry of Natural Waters
Laboratory (1 cr)
GEOL 825 - *Geostatistics (3 cr)
GEOL 842 - Exploration Geophysics-1 (3 cr)
GEOL 843 - Exploration Geophysics -2 (4 cr)
GEOL 850 - Surficial Processes and Landscape Evolution (3 cr)
GEOL 870 - *Field Techniques in Hydrogeology (3 cr)
GEOL 872 - Water in
Geosciences (3 cr)
GEOL 888 - Groundwater Geology (3 cr)
GEOL 889 - Hydrogeology (3 cr)
GEOL 917 - *Environmental Isotope Hydrology (3 cr)
GEOL 985 - *Solute Movement in Soils (3
cr)
GEOL 986 - *Contaminant Hydrogeology (3 cr)
GEOL 987 - *Seminar in Hydrogeology (1-2 cr)
GEOL 988 - *Introduction to Groundwater Modeling (3 cr)
Department of Civil
Engineering
CIVE 853 - Hydrology (3 cr)
CIVE 854 - Hydraulic Engineering (3 cr)
CIVE 856 - Surface Water Hydrology (3 cr)
CIVE 858 - Groundwater Engineering (3 cr)
CIVE 898 - GIS in Water Resources (Spec. Topics, 3 cr)
CIVE 958 - *Groundwater Mechanics (3 cr)
CIVE 959 - *Groundwater Modeling (3 cr)
Biological Systems
Engineering
AGEN 954 - *Hydrologic Modeling of Small Watersheds (2 cr)
BSEN 998 -
*Modeling Vadose Zone Hydrology (Adv. Topics, 3 cr)
School of Natural Resources
GEOG
812 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (4 cr)
GEOG
818 - Introduction to Remote Sensing (4 cr)
GEOG
819 - Applications of Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Nat. Res. (4 cr)
NRES
821 - Field Techniques in Remote Sensing (3 cr)
GEOG 822 - Advanced Techniques in Geographic Information
Systems (4 cr)
GEOG 832 - GIS Programming for Advanced Spatial Analysis and Modeling (4 cr)
NRES
858 - Soil Physical Determinations (2 cr)
NRES 861 - Soil Physics (3 cr)
NRES
868 - Wetlands (4 cr)
NRES
918 - Applied Groundwater Modeling (3 cr)
Agronomy
AGRO961
- *Advanced Soil Physics (3 cr)
Faculty
Facilities
Hydraulic and
geophysical aquifer characterization at UNL include hydraulic testing
instruments (packers, pumps, pressure transducers, data loggers, hydraulic
dipole-flow instruments and borehole flowmeter), ground penetrating radar etc.
Drilling and direct-push equipment (Geoprobe) are available in the Conservation and Survey
Division. Surface water studies utilize auto-samplers, acoustic
doppler velocitymeters, hydrochemical sondes, metering pumps. Water chemistry
studies are supported by Water Sciences Laboratory,
including array of HPLC chromatographs and ICPMS units for analyzing various
inorganic and organic species and environmental isotopes. We use weather
stations and Bowen ratio towers for water and energy balance component
measurements. Experimental sites have been instrumented in various areas of
Nebraska (the Sandhills, Platte River, and Republican River valleys). Faculty
participate in a variety of international projects as well. Computing
facilities at UNL include access to a broad array of PC and supercomputers