Water Science (WATS)

Description: Survey of the water science from the perspective of both natural and social sciences. Water budget, precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff and stream flow, groundwater, water quality parameters, economics of water, water policy, water law and water politics.

Description: Student participation in water science applications. May include participation in water resource management, water measurement, water quality monitoring, water supply, water administration; research in laboratories, green houses and fields; or preparation of educational materials.

Description: Watershed hydrology, soil erosion, erosion control, water management, and land surveying and mapping. Includes rainfall-runoff relationships; determination of watershed characteristics; terraces, waterways, vegetative filters, and residue management; ponds, wetlands, non-point source pollution control, and water conservation; profile and topographic surveying.

Description: Chemical and physical processes that influence the fate and transport of contaminants (inorganic, organic, microbial) in soil-water environments. Extent, fate, mitigation and impact of various sources of pollution. Remedial technologies used for environmental restoration of contaminated environments.

Description: Physical factors that create the biological environment. Radiation and energy balances of earth's surfaces, terrestrial and marine. Temperature, humidity, and wind regimes near the surface. Control of the physical environment through irrigation, windbreaks, frost protection, manipulation of light, and radiation. Applications to air pollution research. Instruments for measuring environmental conditions and remote sensing of the environment.

Description: Principles of water chemistry and their use in precipitation, surface water, and groundwater studies. Groundwater applications used to determine the time and source of groundwater recharge, estimate groundwater residence time, identify aquifer mineralogy, examine the degree of mixing between waters of various sources and evaluate what types of biological and chemical processes have occurred during the water's journey through the aquifer system.

Description: Irrigation management and the selection, evaluation, and improvement of irrigation systems. Includes soil-water measurement, crop water use, irrigation scheduling, irrigation efficiency, measurement of water flow, irrigation systems, groundwater and wells, pumping systems, applying chemicals with irrigation systems, and environmental and water resource considerations.

Description: Environmental impact review; public trust doctrine; endangered species; land use controls; wetlands regulation; surface and ground water rights; Indian and federal water rights; impact of water quality regulations on water allocation.

Description: Physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur in fresh water. Organisms occurring in fresh water and their ecology; biological productivity of water and its causative factors; eutroplication and its effects.

Description: Principles of soil physics. Movement of water, air, heat, and solutes in soils. Water retention and movement, including infiltration and field water regime. Movement of chemicals in soils.

Description: Application of resource economics concepts and empirical tools to resource management problems. Public policy issues involving environmental quality, land and water management.

Description: Physical, chemical and biological processes that occur in wetlands; the hydrology and soils of wetland systems; organisms occurring in wetlands and their ecology wetland creation, delineation, management and ecotoxicology.

Description: Emphasis on applied soil physics. Discussion of theoretical principles followed by field and laboratory exercises and applications. Fluxes of water, solutes, air, and heat through the soil. Emphasis on water infiltration, water retention, other soil hydraulic properties. Components of soil water balance. Management of soil water.

Description: Holistic approach to the selection and analysis of planning strategies for protecting water quality from nonpoint sources of contamination. Introduction to the use of methods of analyzing the impact of strategies on whole systems and subsystems; for selecting strategies; and for evaluating present strategies.

Description: Interaction between earth's climate and the hydrologic cycle. Energy and water fluxes at the land-atmosphere interface. Atmospheric moisture transport, precipitation, evaporation, snowmelt, and runoff. Impacts of climate variability and change on the hydrologic cycle.

Description: Fundamental physical drivers operating in stream and river ecosystems and how those vary in space and time. Major classes of organisms associated with stream ecosystems and their functional roles. Fundamental controls on biotic diversity in stream and river ecosystems and its variance. Major aspects of stream ecosystem function including energy flow and nutrient cycling. Ecosystem services provided by stream and river ecosystems and causes and consequences of human impacts on streams and rivers. Underlying principles of bioassessment and current methods of stream restoration.

Description: Seminar on current water resources research and issues in Nebraska and the region.

Description: Individual or group projects in research, literature review, or extension of course work under the supervision and evaluation of a water science faculty member.

Description: Work as individual or as a team member to develop solutions to water resource problems. Problem involves multi-disciplinary features. Requires independent research, proposal preparation and presentation.

Description: Continuation of WATS 498A. Carry out proposal and present findings orally and in writing.

Description: Conduct a scholarly research project and write a University Honors Program or undergraduate thesis.