Course Description:

A river runs through natural settings, a river runs through urban environments. Most rivers in the world have been impacted by human activities. Our goal is to gain a solid understanding of river dynamics and related ecosystem services. As engineers in this course, you will learn:

• • Fundamental scientific principles at play in aquatic environments

  • Methods to restore habitats for specific ecosystem functions and services 

  • Monitoring tools for long-term sustainable assessment of stream health 

Term Project:

Investigate local stream conditions, identify specific ecosystem functions in need of restoration, design and test a scaled-down prototype (depending on solution chosen) based on local biota needs 

Labs:

Use laboratory and field diagnostic tools; quantify dominant hydraulic, ecological and biological parameters defining stream health at a local stream field site