Home      Research      Teaching      Service      Students      Contact

  Information For Prospective Students
    Introduction

    Welcome to my web page devoted to future generations! Most likely you are a highly motivated individual seeking a mentor to guide you on a career path in which you will use an interdisciplinary array of tools to help better understand and protect the Environment, with a focus on water resources. You realize that while political action and community involvement are useful for raising awareness about environmental problems, your strengths and interests suggest that you could help more by learning and then applying state-of-the-art science and technology to solve tangible problems.

    Research Areas

    As you can see from the research projects described on my web page, I have worked on a wide array of environmental problems in the past, ranging from the effects of acid-brine lake seepage on rural Indonesian communities to the design of river restoration projects in California. I have also worked hard to learn the disciplines of earth surface processes, civil engineering, hydrology, and ecology so that each environmental problem I examine can be addressed from an integrated perspective engaging all of these important fields. I believe my publication record illustrates my success as an interdisciplinarian, but I still have much to learn.

    Recently, I have focused my work on four topics:

    1. How do historic land use activities impact rivers, floodplains, and estuaries?
    2. What can we learn about environmental science and civil engineering by using "restoration" projects as manipulative experiments to actively test mechanistic hypotheses about them?
    3. What is the scientific and management significance of the natural 3D complexity of the earth's surface?
    4. How do mountain rivers behave, with a special emphasis on waterfalls?

    I have substantial funding to address some or all of these questions on an on-going basis.

    Your Educational Course Work

    To earn an advanced degree from UC Davis with me you need to either apply to the Hydrologic Science Graduate Group. To give you a sense of what your course work would be like, here is some information on courses.

    Typical Pre-requisites
    • Biology: 1-yr College sequence (equiv. to UCD courses BIO 1A,B,C)
    • Chemistry: 1-yr College sequence (equiv. to UCD courses CHE 2A,B,C)
    • Physics: 1-yr College sequence (equiv. to UCD courses PHY 9A,B)
    • Math: 1-yr of calculus; linear algebra, ordinary differential equations, multi-variate calculus (equiv. to UCD courses MAT 21A,B,C,D; 22A,B)
    • Statistics: 1 class (equiv. to UCD course ECI114)
    • Computer Science: 1 class in any programming language
    • Geology: 1 class in introductory geology

    Typical Core courses taken here
      Additional prep courses:
      • ECI103- Fluid mechanics
      • ECI141- Engineering hydraulics
      • HYD134- Aqueous geochemistry
      • HYD198- Analysis of spatial data
      • STA137- Applied time series analysis (can sub STA237A,B)
      Core courses:
      • HYD151- Field methods in hydrology
      • HYD200- Hydrology seminar
      • HYD252- Hillslope geomorphology and sediment budgets
      • HYD298-Watershed hydrology and geomorphology group discussion
      • HYD299- Independent research
      • ECI260- Sediment transport
      • ECI276- Watershed hydrology (advanced theory)

    General Electives:
      Electives depend on the nature of a research project and the individual interests of a student. Listed below are examples of courses that have been taken by my students in the past.

    • HYD143- Hydrological processes in ecosystems
    • HYD142- Systems hydrology
    • HYD243- Water resources planning and management
    • HYD256- Geomorphology of estuaries and deltas
    • HYD273- Geostatistics
    • ESP155- Wetland ecology
    • WFC120- Biology and conservation of fishes
    • ECI10- Introduction to surveying
    • ECI121- Instrumentation, data visualization, and control
    • ECI240- Water quality
    • ECI264A- Transport processes in rivers and lakes
    • ECI264B- Transport processes in wetlands and estuaries
    • ECI275- Hydrology time series analysis
    • ECI276- Watershed hydrology (advanced)
    • ECI277- Unsteady flow in surface waters
    • ATM115- Hydroclimatology
    • GEO206- Stratigraphic analysis
    • GEO148- Stable isotopes and geochemical tracers
    • GEO227- Stable isotope biogeochemistry
    • GEO292- River Forum

    Advanced Electives for Ph.D. students:
      The highest level of student achievement requires the highest level of basic understanding of nature. These additional courses are useful for those seeking to understand moving water.

    • ECH150A,B- Advanced fluid mechanics
    • HYD298- Continuum mechanics
    • MAE210A,B- Advanced fluid mechanics
    • MAE213- Advanced turbluence modeling


    Final Thoughts

    Graduate study in my group at UC Davis is a challenging yet rewarding enterprise. Each student project has real ramifications for the Environment, so your work will truly matter. In exchange for providing you with a highly progressive educational experience, I expect a commitment to hard work and desire for excellence.

    I look forward to hearing from you by e-mail with any questions and learning about your individual interests.

    Warmly,

    Greg