Course summary
Our River Environments and their Management MSc is taught by a team of internationally leading water scientists at the University of Birmingham and developed with input from the water industry. To link the theory to the outside world, excursions and fieldwork are a crucial part of many of our modules. This course will examine the interactions between climate, hydrology, geomorphology, ecology, biogeochemical cycling, water and habitat quality and biodiversity. Using a combination of lectures, fieldwork, tutorials, laboratory classes, group projects and an individual research-based thesis, you will be provided with the necessary training and skills for a career in the successful environmental management of rivers. River systems are under ever increasing pressure through the growing demands of water abstraction and hydroelectric power generation, and suffer recurrent disturbance through diffuse and point source pollutants, drought, flooding and channel modification. The environmental management of rivers is required to mitigate the effects of these pressures. This requires a holistic understanding of how river systems are structured and function, and of how these systems have been altered by anthropogenic activities. To this end, the course will examine the interactions between climate, hydrology, geomorphology, ecology, biogeochemical cycling, water and habitat quality and biodiversity. An important aspect of the training will be an understanding of how these interactions act at different spatial and temporal scales to influence the structure and function of ecosystems in running waters. This scientific and technical corpus will allow you to understand and quantify the consequences of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on river systems. Using a combination of lectures, fieldwork, tutorials, laboratory classes, group projects and an individual research-based thesis, you will be provided with the necessary training and skills for a career in the successful environmental management of rivers, including techniques on assessing their status and approaches to rehabilitate and restore the condition of these globally threatened environments. This degree will provide direct postgraduate training for students interested in this career direction, as well as providing advanced-level training suitable for further PhD studies in water science. We are fortunate at Birmingham in having a wide variety of staff within the Water Sciences Research Group with interests in rivers, particularly in the arena of hydroecology, and it is this expertise that will inform the teaching of the modules in River Environments and their Management.
Modules
Modules are taught over the entire semester allowing for development of ideas and additional reading. Modules are also open to occasional students: Environmental analysis and modelling Quantitative Analysis of Hydrological Processes Advances in Water Science and River Management River Ecology: Theory and Practice Hydrogeomorphology and Catchment Management River Habitats and Biogeochemistry Assessment and Monitoring Dissertation
Assessment method
Your performance on the course is assessed by a variety of assessments, including written examinations on the lecture material, reports on the project work, essays and presentations, seminar contributions, in-class tests for practical skills, workbooks for computer-based skills, and an individual dissertation. You must normally reach a satisfactory standard in all assessments to be permitted to proceed to the individual dissertation project. On satisfactory completion of the course and examinations you are awarded the degree of MSc River Environments and their Management.
Entry requirements
Normally a 2:1 Honours degree or equivalent in Geography, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Ecology / Biology, Life Sciences, Agricultural Science, Water Management, or a related discipline, with preferably good marks in modules related to hydrology. In special cases, applications may be considered from those with honours degrees with lower marks or those holding non-graduate qualifications that are deemed by the University to be a satisfactory alternative to an Honours degree in the subject areas mentioned above, for example if the applicant has many years of experience in a relevant field.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
For more detailed information on available funding and fees for postgraduate courses please visit: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught/fees-funding
Provider information
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT