Our hydrogeology program was listed among the 100 top hydrogeology programs in North America 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 is run by V. Zlotnik, with strong emphasis on fundamental physical and chemical processes of groundwater flow and mass and energy transport in the subsurface. Using theory, modeling, 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, attend the national and international meetings, obtain research funding and academic awards from AGU, GSA, NSF, and AAPG for their work.
The hydrogeology program emphasizes groundwater-surface water interactions, aquifer hydraulics and hydrogeophysics, vadose zone studies, and groundwater flow and transport modeling, and regional groundwater models under land use and climate changes. Our program integrates hydrogeology with surface hydrology and climate 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 CALMITwith vast opportunities in hydrology, geomorphology, soil physics, isotope geochemistry, remote sensing, and GIS.
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.
Course List
Core courses are in bold. 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)
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)
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)
Agronomy
- AGRO961 - *Advanced Soil Physics (3 cr)
Faculty
Additional classes are available from collaborating faculty:
- School of Natural Resources: from Trenton Franz (hydrogeolophysics), Francisco Munoz-Arriola (hydroinformatics and integrated hydrology)
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering: from Dean Eisenhauer (vadose zone hydrology and watershed modeling), Derek Hereen(Irrigation hydrology), and Suat Irmak (soil and water resources engineering, microclimate-surface interactions)
- Department of Civil Engineering: from Yusong Li (groundwater engineering) and Ayse Kilic (GIS in water resources)
Facilities
Hydraulic and geophysical aquifer characterization at Nebraska 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 Nebraska include access to a broad array of PC and supercomputers.