MSc River Basin Dynamics and Management

Introduction

The Masters in River Basin Dynamics and Management is a lecture, practical, and field-based course. It examines how factors such as geomorphology, climatic change, and human activity interact to shape fluvial environments, and explores how this knowledge can be used to manage these environments in a more sustainable way. Importantly, the course stresses the importance of adopting a holistic, basin-wide approach to river management, which is especially relevant given two contemporary trends:

1. The increased hazard that river systems now pose to human activity at a time of rapid environmental change (e.g. increased potential for flooding, erosion and contaminant dispersal);
2. Legislative changes, such as the EU's Water Framework Directive (WFD), which is driving an integrated approach to the protection, improvement and sustainable use of surface water and groundwater.

Why do an MSc in River Basing Dynamics and Management?

If you are interested in a career in environmental consultancy or research, or in further academic study (e.g. for a PhD), then this Masters scheme will provide you with important skills. In particular, there is increasing demand for people with knowledge and skills in river management, especially those that embrace the importance of geomorphology and the need for a basin-wide approach.

What themes and concepts are addressed by the MSc?

Themes and concepts addressed by the Masters include, but are not limited to, the following: bank erosion, catchment management, climate change, contaminant dispersal, ecohydrology, environmental change, flood/drought estimation, flood frequency analysis, flood risk assessment, fluvial geomorphology, fluvial sedimentology, hydrochemistry, hydroclimatology, hydrology, hydraulic modelling, river management, rivers as systems, sediment transport, soft engineering approaches, sustainable environmental management, urban drainage systems, water-borne diseases, Water Framework Directive, water quality.

Why do the MSc at Aberystwyth?

The Masters is taught largely by staff within the River Basin Dynamics and Hydrology Research Group. This Group contains the largest concentration of fluvial, hydrological, and water chemistry academics within the UK, including Professor Mark Macklin (fluvial geomorphology), Professor David Kay (water quality and health), Dr James Brasington (flow modelling and environmental monitoring), Dr Paul Brewer (contemporary fluvial processes), Dr Tony Jones (water resources and hydrology), Dr Bill Perkins (water chemistry), Dr Stephen Tooth (dryland and wetland river systems), and Joe Wheaton (fluvial modelling). In addition, the Research Group has a number of research assistants, PhD students, and postdoctoral students, and its own environmental consultancies (fluvio and the Centre for Research in Health and Environment) that are presently involved with several contracts around the globe. During your Masters, you will benefit from the ongoing research and commercial projects operating within the Group because you will be taught by, and liaise with, academics and consultants who are working on real environmental problems.
The Research Group has its own computer modeling suite, and a large pool of field and laboratory equipment that is available for use during the Masters course. In addition, as a Masters student at Aberystwyth, you will also be part of a large cohort of students (over 25 in 2004 across all MSc schemes), working within a research active and vibrant institution that has over 35 full-time staff and many technical and support staff.

Semester 1

There are two core modules entitled Advanced Research Skills and River Basin Processes and Management Field Course. As an optional module, you choose either Spatial Data Acquisition or the Fundamentals of Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing.
These modules provide you with a foundation of core concepts, knowledge and skills, including those relating to data acquisition and management, statistics, and information technology. The residential field course provides ‘hands-on' experience of past and contemporary river management issues, and along with associated discussion groups, you prepare reports on data gathered during fieldwork. The optional modules enable you to gain important practical experience with Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing, or with Differential Global Positioning Systems and Ground Penetrating Radar.

Semester 2

Semester 2 modules build upon concepts, knowledge and skills developed in Semester 1. There are two core modules entitled Geomorphological Approaches to River Basin Management and The Water Framework Directive, Water Quality and Hydrological Extremes. Depending on your Semester 1 optional module choice, you then have a choice of one module from the other Semester 2 MSc modules offered in the Institute, which provides you with the flexibility to widen your skills base in other areas of Geography and Earth Science. These modules include Advanced Techniques in Geographic Information Systems, Advanced Techniques in Remote Sensing, Laboratory Techniques, Geochemistry of the Primary and Secondary Environments, Approaches to Glaciology, and Glacial Processes and Products.

Semester 3

During this semester, you undertake an independent research project which leads to the production of a dissertation. Throughout this project, you are advised on your research by a dedicated supervisor.