MSc in Hydrogeology

Programme Manager: Dr. Noelle Odling

We established a 1-year, MSc course in Hydrogeology at Leeds in the autumn of 2004 in response to a skills shortage in hydrogeology in the UK identified in a 2002-03 report by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. This skills shortage is on-going and the course has proved popular with around 10-15 students per year.

NEW FOR 2009 – ICE accreditation. The course is now accredited by ICE (Institute of Civil Engineers) and also holds the internationally acknowledged EUR-ACE Label (European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Programmes) at Masters level in accordance with the demands of the Bologne Declaration for degree courses.

Over the last 20 to 30 years, it has become increasingly apparent that our groundwater resources are at risk from a wide variety of stresses including point and diffuse sources of contamination, over-abstraction and saline intrusion. The recent EU Water Framework and Groundwater Directives are driving change in the way that we govern exploitation and protection of our water resources which is presenting the water industry with challenges for the future. Added to this is an increasing awareness that climate change has significant implications for groundwater resources. These problems are global and the protection and sustainable use of water resources, including groundwater, is regarded by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century (IPCC Report 2007).

Meeting the challenges of protecting and ensuring sustainable use of our groundwater resources depends on maintaining a workforce in industry and academia of qualified hydrogeologists. The level of current demand for qualified hydrogeologists has been confirmed by our recent students, the majority of whom, over recent years, have secured jobs by the end of their course. It is very likely that the employment prospects for students who successfully complete an MSc in Hydrogeology will be favourable for the foreseeable future.

The MSc Hydrogeology is one of ten MSc courses offered by the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds which has one of the largest taught postgraduate communities in the UK with around 160 MSc students each year. As a student on the MSc Hydrogeology course you will interact with many of these students in lectures, practical classes and field trips, further widening your horizons and experience.

MSc Hydrogeology brochure

Staff

The MSc in hydrogeology is taught by a number of staff members in the School of Earth and Environment, principally Dr Noelle Odling (programme mananger), Dr Jared West, Prof. Simon Bottrell and Dr. Roger Clark . This is complemented by a number of lecture and practical sessions delivered by external staff from Industry including David Banks (Holymoor Consulting) and Susan Wagstaff (Marsden Environmental) and talks on specific topics by a wide range of speakers from industry (such as WYG Environmental, Golders Associates, Ford Consulting).

Entry requirements

Applications are welcome from students with a geoscience or related background including geology, geophysics, engineering, environmental science, physics, chemistry or applied mathematics. A first or upper second class degree or the overseas equivalent is normally required.

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Programme specification

The course is designed to give a thorough grounding in all aspects of hydrogeology including theory of movement of water and contaminants in the subsurface, geochemistry of groundwater, interpretation of hydraulic and chemical data in field and laboratory, and groundwater modeling. The course at Leeds includes, as distinctive features, the chemistry of pollutants and their remediation, groundwater modeling, and fractured aquifers. Students undertake a three to four month independent project over the summer which may involve collaboration with industry or current research programmes in the School.

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The lectures and practical classes are complimented and reinforced through a number of field trips where students get the chance to put theory into practice. These trips include visits to major aquifers (the Chalk and Lincolnshire Limestone Aquifers), aquifer testing techniques, fracture surveying and core and geophysical borehole logging.

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Industry links

The MSc course maintains good links with industry. Personnel from the water industry contribute to the taught part of the programme, particularly for the module SOEE5482 ‘Advanced Hydrogeology’. Industry also makes significant contribution to the course through cash prizes (White Young Green Environmental and Wardell Armstrong), course software supplied by ESI and Golder Associates, talks on current industry activities and in a wide range of MSc projects. The Environment Agency has also supported 2 students to take the course part-time.

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Employment Prospects

An MSc is the expected qualification for working as a hydrogeologist in the water industry. A number of our past students have specifically returned from industry in order to improve their qualifications and career prospects. The current demand for qualified hydrogeologists has been confirmed by our students, the vast majority of whom have secured jobs in the water industry or gone on to further degrees (PhD and MSc). With an MSc in hydrogeology students can expect to find employment principally with environmental and engineering consultancies and water companies both in the UK or abroad. The present shortage of suitably qualified hydrogeologists strongly suggests that employment prospects for students who successfully complete an MSc in Hydrogeology will continue to be favourable. Starting salaries are around £20,000 - £25,000 pa.

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