Watershed HydrologyCurriculum: by semester | detailed view
FER Home : Undergraduates : Watershed Hydrology
Are you concerned about water quality? Would you like to learn about the effects of human activity on water and offer solutions to the problems the world now faces in protecting its most precious natural resource? Does the thought of working out in the field appeal to you? Are you proficient in math and science? If so, Watershed Hydrology may be right for you.
FER’s Watershed Hydrology Program is an interdisciplinary environmental sciences major that combines the study of hydrology with the study of watershed management. Hydrology is concerned with the origin, circulation, distribution, and properties of the waters of the earth, including its quality and conservation. Watershed hydrology takes this science on step further by applying hydrology to the study of the storage, movement, and quality of water within the context of a natural landscape unit — the watershed — as well as the effects of human activities on that water
Undergraduates also learn about soils, engineering, computer modeling and other related topics that feed into Watershed Hydrology. They learn how to conduct field research on NC State’s forest lands, where they perform habitat evaluations, test water quality and analyze productivity levels of many different natural resources contributing to water systems. They also learn how to analyze the hydrologic functioning of watersheds, to plan and implement watershed management practices and to deal with the ecologic, social, political, and economic aspects of water resources problems.
The Watershed Hydrology major is part of an exciting network of academic programs coordinated by the Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Academic Programs (ESNR) at NC State University. Find out more about ESNR >>
Curriculum
The Watershed Hydrology curriculum features a rigorous science and math component, complemented by a series of soils, engineering and hydrology courses. It also places a heavy emphasis on computer applications, including programming.
View the courses you will take for a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a concentration in Watershed Hydrology: Eight Semester Display or Degree Audit Information View.
Career Possibilities
The Watershed Hydrology program prepares students to serve as hydrologists within both the public and private sectors. Stresses on water resources caused by population growth should continue to drive demand for hydrologists in a variety of research, technical, environmental assessment and management positions within federal and state agencies or private organizations.
Within the public sector, since the Watershed Hydrology curriculum meets the criteria of the US Office of Personnel Management for the position of Hydrologist, you will be immediately qualified to serve as a hydrologist in such federal and state agencies as the US Geological Survey, US Forest Service, US Army Corps of Engineers, USDA Soil Conservation and state water resources or environmental management agencies and divisions.
Within the private sector, potential employers include environmental consulting firms, non-profit environmental organizations and companies that own and manage large areas of forested, agricultural or urbanized land.
The rigorous scientific and quantitative background of this program is also excellent preparation for graduate studies.
