For Students

Prospective Students

We have opportunities for creative, hardworking and very motivated undergraduate, graduate students, visiting scholars and postdocs in our research group. See the research and cooperative extension webpages to find out about our ongoing projects. Prospective students should have a strong interest in integrated water resources management, hydrology, system modeling, decision making process, water governance, balanced human and environmental water management, science-based solutions and designing of strategies to balance competing water uses and interests. We encourage people to apply from a multidisciplinary background: ecologist, hydrologist, civil engineers, environmental engineers, irrigation engineers, sociologist, lawyers, geologist, among other backgrounds. Prospective graduate students, postdocs and undergrads are strongly encouraged to contact Samuel Sandoval.

Current Students

There are many opportunities for students to participate in our research group, from collaborations in water management problems to involvement in current research projects. Contact Samuel Sandoval, opportunities are available year-round! 

Qualifications:

Interest in water resources management, basin modeling, environmental flows, water governance, environmental restoration policies, system re-operation, conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water, water resources sustainability, adaptive management, among other topics.

Preference given to students who have taken statistics, GIS, hydrology, water science & management (ESM 121) or who have equivalent experience. Please see our research for a description of the projects. Contact Samuel Sandoval if interested.

Preference given to students who have taken water science & management (ESM 121), statistics (STA 100, STA 130, ECI 114), hydrology (ERS/ESM 100, HYD 141), geographic information systems (ABT 150), or who have equivalent experience. Please see the research page for a description of the projects. Contact Samuel Sandoval if interested.

Available Positions

Postdoctoral Position in Linking Catchment Scale Geomorphic Processes, Channel Morphology, and Ecohydraulics across California (Apply here)

The University of California, Davis and Utah State University invite applications for two postdoctoral positions with an initial 12-month appointment (with the possibility of a second year extension contingent upon: mutual agreement, satisfactory performance and the availability of funds).

The appointees will perform research on linkages between catchment terrains, river archetypes, and ecohydraulics. River corridor patterns and features such as channel bed and width undulations influence hydro-geomorphic dynamics and dependent river ecosystem functions. Prediction of these channel elements and their relationships with larger geospatial controls across a range of scales is an important scientific problem with societal ramifications.

The multi-institution project team is working with natural resource managers in the State of California to design environmental flows that support ecological processes across the diversity of hydro-geomorphic settings and river ecosystems in the region. For a region of this size, it is essential to ascertain ways of using information from data rich locations and spatial scales to inform those that are data poor using targeted data collection and appropriate modeling techniques. We have already collected reach-scale geomorphic information at nearly 1000 field sites across nine water management regions in California. In addition, California has growing airborne LiDAR coverage of river corridors for “riverscape” investigations at both high resolution and large area. The successful candidate will interact directly with diverse researchers, stakeholders, and natural resources managers.

For further information about the position and for applying, please go to UC Davis Recruit.