Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources (Bachelor of Science major)

Water is one of the most basic requirements for life on planet Earth. But will there be enough fresh water to drink as human population growth continues to explode in the 21st century? How will our environment and ecosystems respond to these global changes in planetary hydrology? Will predicted world water wars become a reality of the not too distant future? These are just some unanswered questions of worldwide significance with obvious importance to South Australia, the driest state in the driest inhabited continent in the world. Environmental water management and protection is a rapidly growing area with strong professional employment opportunities. Importantly, it is underpinned by state of the art scientific understanding and investigation.

The First Year of this major provides a broad multidisciplinary background in natural sciences including hydrology, biology, ocean and climate sciences. In Second and Third Years, students undertake a range of topics to equip them with professional field, laboratory and computer analysis skills. Career opportunities are very strong and continue to grow. Upon successful completion of this major, you will be equipped with the professional and scientific skills to work in numerous organisations including CSIRO, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Catchment Boards, private environmental consulting firms and government water, land and biodiversity departments.

This major will particularly appeal to students who have a keen interest in understanding, developing and applying modern multidisciplinary science to solve a diverse range of environmental and water problems; enjoy studying outdoors in exciting field locations; and who wish to undertake a professionally oriented degree to equip them for employment in the growing environmental profession. For those interested in pursuing a career in research, a BSc (Hons) degree can lead to a PhD being undertaken in cutting edge research areas within hydrology or other areas of environmental science.

Check the Faculty pages regarding the Bachelor of Science and the Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources Major for updates, prerequisites and regulations. Detailed information on the structure of the major is documented in the Course Information Handbook .

The co-ordinator for this major is Dr John Hutson.