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

• CEE 6400CEE 6400 (3 credits) Physical Hydrology (Lane) – fundamentals of hydrologic cycle and processes [Fall]
• CEE 5500CEE 5500/6500 (3 credits) Open Channel Hydraulics (Phillips) – steady uniform and gradually varied flow [Fall]
• CEE 6660CEE 6660 (3 credits) Environmental and Hydrologic Data Analysis and Experimentation (Stevens) [Fall]
• CEE 6800CEE 6800 Water and Environmental Seminar

Core Technical Electives (students must take 2 of the following courses)

• CEE 6930CEE 6930 (3 credits) – Hydrologic Field Methods (Lane) – fundamentals of in-field data collection and processing [Fall]
• CEE 6470CEE 6470 (3 credits) – River Mechanics (Sedimentation Engineering) (Crookston) – fluvial processes of sediment transport including design and analyses [Spring, every other year]
• WATS 6150WATS 6150 (3 credits) – Fluvial Geomorphology (Wheaton/Schmidt) – physical processes in streams that control their shape and bed material [Spring]
• CEE 6740CEE 6740 (4 credits) – Surface Water Quality Modeling – (Neilson) – process based water quality modeling [Fall]

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

MS Plan A (30 credits required, 6-9 credits of Thesis Research) or MS Plan B (30 credits required, 2-3 credits of Thesis Research)

Year 1 Example

Year 2 Example

* taught every-other year