Link to the University of Waterloo home page
2016-2017

The Undergraduate Calendar

 

 

Science Academic Plans

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Honours Earth Sciences (Hydrogeology Specialization)

Advisors: See Faculty of Science, Academic Advisors.

Hydrogeology is an interdisciplinary field of study that integrates geological knowledge with the principles of subsurface fluid flow, contaminant migration, geochemistry, mathematics, and physics in order to understand and protect groundwater resources. Typical problems hydrogeologists are trained to tackle include the search for groundwater supplies, assessment and remediation of soil and groundwater contamination due to industrial, agricultural and mining practices, and conducting watershed studies to assess environmental impacts due to urban and rural activities. This quantitative program prepares students for challenging and exciting careers in both the public and private sectors, particularly in the environmental consulting industry where the demand for well-trained hydrogeologists is high.

Legend

 * It is required that one course (0.5 unit) be taken from the Faculty of Arts. It is recommended that a course in oral or written communication be selected (e.g. SPCOM 223, ENGL 109, ENGL 129R, ENGL 140R, ENGL 209, ENGL 210E, ENGL 210F, or PHIL 145).

** Two courses (1.0 unit) must be either a 200-level or higher course from BIOL, CHEM, PHYS, MATH, AMATH or CS, or be chosen from BIOL 120, BIOL 130, BIOL 150, CS 115, or CS 116. SCI-labelled and EARTH-labelled courses cannot be used to satisfy these core electives.

NOTE
Recommended electives for the Hydrogeology Specialization include: ENVS 201, ERS 215, BIOL 240, BIOL 447, GEOG 387, GEOG 271, MATH 217, and CIVE 221.


Year 1A (Fall)

CHEM 120/CHEM 120L Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter/Laboratory
EARTH 121/EARTH 121L Introductory Earth Sciences/Laboratory
EARTH 123 Introductory Hydrology
MATH 127 Calculus 1
PHYS 111/PHYS 111L Physics 1/Laboratory
 or PHYS 121/PHYS 121L Mechanics/Laboratory

Year 1B (Winter)

CHEM 123/CHEM 123L Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics/Laboratory
EARTH 122/EARTH 122L Introductory Environmental Sciences/Laboratory
MATH 128 Calculus 2
PHYS 112/PHYS 112L Physics 2/Laboratory
 or PHYS 122/PHYS 122L Waves, Electricity and Magnetism/Laboratory
One elective (0.5 unit)
 

Year 2A (Fall)

EARTH 123L Field Methods in Hydrology
EARTH 231 Mineralogy
EARTH 235 Stratigraphic Approaches to Understanding Earth's History
EARTH 260 Applied Geophysics 1
MATH 106 Applied Linear Algebra 1
 or MATH 114 Linear Algebra for Science
One elective (0.5 unit)

Year 2B (Winter)

EARTH 221 Geochemistry 1
EARTH 232 Petrography
EARTH 238 Introductory Structural Geology
MATH 218 Differential Equations for Engineers
 or ENVE 223 Differential Equations and Balance Laws
Arts Core*(0.5 unit)


Year 3A (Fall)

EARTH 342 Applied Geomorphology
EARTH 421 Geochemistry 2
EARTH 458/EARTH 458L Physical Hydrogeology/Field Methods in Hydrogeology
STAT 202 Introductory Statistics for Scientists
One elective (0.5 units)

Year 3B (Winter)

CIVE 353 Geotechnical Engineering 1
EARTH 333 Introductory Sedimentology
EARTH 390 Methods in Geological Mapping
One 200- or 300- or 400-level EARTH elective (0.5 unit)
Two core electives**(1.0 unit)


Year 4A (Fall)

EARTH 359 Flow Through Porous Media
EARTH 436A Honours Thesis
 or EARTH 499 Research Project
EARTH 440 Quaternary Geology
One 300- or 400-level EARTH elective (0.5 unit)
One electives (0.5 units)

Year 4B (Winter)

EARTH 436B Honours Thesis
 or One 300- or 400-level EARTH course
EARTH 456 Numerical Methods in Hydrogeology
EARTH 459 Chemical Hydrogeology
One 300- or 400-level EARTH elective (0.5 unit)
One electives (0.5 units)


Office of the Registrar
University of Waterloo
2nd Floor, Needles Hall
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4567