River Mechanics and Modeling
Overview: This emphasis encompasses a broad range of interdisciplinary topics related to fluvial systems, including ecohydraulics, river mechanics, river engineering, surface water quality, physical hydrology, and restoration of aquatic ecosystems. Students in this specialization can design a graduate program to match their individual goals and interests, including both traditional study areas such as hydraulic engineering and applied interdisciplinary research areas related to river restoration and natural systems modeling. Students can supplement department offerings with courses in Watershed Sciences, Geology, Statistics, and other areas to build both the fundamental understanding and breadth of knowledge to solve the pressing challenges in river science and management.
Areas of current student research include: physical-ecological linkages in fluvial systems, surface water – groundwater interactions, water temperature modeling in natural systems, environmental flows, sedimentation processes and fluvial geomorphology.
Required Courses
Fall
- CEE 6400CEE 6400 Physical Hydrology
- CEE 5500CEE 5500/6500 Open Channel Hydraulics
- CEE 6660CEE 6660 Environmental and Hydrologic Data Analysis and Experimentation
- CEE 6800CEE 6800 CEE Seminar
Spring
- CEE 6800CEE 6800 CEE Seminar
Core Technical Electives (students must take 2 of the following courses)
Fall
- CEE 6930CEE 6930 Hydrologic Field Methods
- CEE 6740CEE 6740 Surface Water Quality Modeling
Spring
- CEE 6470CEE 6470 River Mechanics (Sedimentation Engineering)
- WATS 6150WATS 6150 Fluvial Geomorphology
Note that with approval from the graduate committee, required courses can be waived if the student has successfully completed an equivalent course at Utah State University or elsewhere.
Other Technical Electives
Fall
- CEE 6930 Advanced Hydrology through CUAHSI Virtual University
- CEE 6540CEE 6540 Hydraulic Structures Design
- CEE 5430CEE 5430/6430 Groundwater Engineering
- CEE 6110CEE 6110 Hydroinformatics
- CEE 6610CEE 6610 Environmental Quality Analysis
- CEE 6006CEE 6006 Agricultural Water Management
- CEE 5655CEE 5655/6655 Green Infrastructure
- WATS 6050WATS 6050 Aquatic Ecosystems and Water Resources Systems Modeling
- WATS 4500WATS 4500/6500 Limnology: Ecology of Inland Waters
Spring
- CEE 5490CEE 5490/6490 Integrated River Basin Management
- CEE 6450CEE 6450 Hydrologic Modeling
- CEE 5003CEE 5003/6003 Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces
- CEE 5190CEE 5190/6190 GIS for Civil Engineers
- CEE 6580CEE 6580 Intermediate Fluid Mechanics
- WATS 6840WATS 6840 Fluvial Hydraulics and Ecohydraulics
- WATS 4930WATS 4930/6920 Advanced GIS and Spatial Analysis
MS Plan A (3 required, 6- of Thesis Research) or MS Plan B (3 required, 2- of Thesis Research)
Year 1 Example
Fall
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6500CEE 6500 | Open Channel Hydraulics | 3 |
CEE 6400CEE 6400 | Physical Hydrology | 3 |
CEE 6930CEE 6930 | Hydrologic Field Methods | 3 |
CEE 6740CEE 6740 | Surface Water Quality Modeling | 4 |
Spring
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6470CEE 6470* | River Mechanics (Sedimentation) | 3 |
WATS 6150WATS 6150 | Fluvial Geomorphology | 3 |
CEE 6490CEE 6490 | Integrated River Basin Management | 3 |
Year 2 Example
Fall
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6660CEE 6660 | Hydrologic Statistics | 3 |
CEE 6540CEE 6540 | Hydraulic Structures | 3 |
CUASHI GIS | 1-4 |
Spring
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6930CEE 6930* | Computational Fluid Dynamics | 3 |
CEE 6930CEE 6930 | GIS for Water Resources | 3 |
* taught every-other year
ME (3) 1 year plan
Fall
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6500CEE 6500** | Open channel hydraulics | 3 |
CEE 6400CEE 6400 | Physical hydrology | 3 |
CEE 6930CEE 6930 | Hydrologic field methods | 3 |
CEE 6740CEE 6740 | Surface water quality modeling | 4 |
CEE 6660CEE 6660 | Hydrologic statistics | 3 |
CEE 6800CEE 6800 | Water Seminar | 1 |
Other options:
- CEE 6540: Hydraulic structures (Tullis) (3)
- CUASHI GIS (Tarboton) (1-4)
Spring
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6470CEE 6470 | River Mechanics (Sedimentation) OR CFD | 3 |
WATS 6150WATS 6150 | Fluvial Geomorphology | 3 |
CEE 6490CEE 6490 | Integrated River Basin Management | 3 |
CEE 6450CEE 6450 | Hydrologic Modeling | 3 |
CEE 6800CEE 6800 | Water Seminar | 1 |
Other options:
- PROPOSED: GIS for Water Resources (Zeng/Torres) (3)
** if you are starting your ME during spring semester, you will need to have taken CEE 5500/ 6500 the previous fall semester
ME (3) – Sr. Year + 1 year plan
Senior Year Technical Electives:
Fall
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 5500CEE 5500 | Open channel hydraulics | 3 |
Spring
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 5490CEE 5490 OR CEE 5450CEE 5450 |
Integrated River Basin Management OR Hydrologic Modeling |
3 OR 3 |
ME 1-year:
Fall
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6400CEE 6400 | Physical hydrology | 3 |
CEE 6930CEE 6930 | Hydrologic field methods | 3 |
CEE 6740CEE 6740 | Surface water quality modeling | 4 |
CEE 6660CEE 6660 | Hydrologic statistics | 3 |
CEE 6800CEE 6800 | Water Seminar | 1 |
Other options:
- CEE 6540: Hydraulic structures (Tullis) (3)
- CUASHI GIS (Tarboton) (1-4)
Spring
Course Number | Course Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
CEE 6470CEE 6470 | River Mechanics (Sedimentation) OR CFD | 3 |
WATS 6150WATS 6150 | Fluvial Geomorphology | 3 |
CEE 6490CEE 6490*** | Integrated River Basin Management | 3 |
CEE 6450CEE 6450*** | Hydrologic Modeling | 3 |
CEE 6800CEE 6800 | Water Seminar | 1 |
Other options:
- PROPOSED: GIS for Water Resources (Zeng/Torres) (3)
** if you are starting your ME during spring semester, you will need to have taken CEE 5500/ 6500 the previous fall semester
*** take one of these classes not completed during BS