ECON545/WR572

Course Description

This course is the second of three interdisciplinary courses in the core curriculum for the Master of Water Resources (MWR) degree. The principal objectives of this course include:

  • Develop an understanding of how a quantitative representation of physical, environmental and socio-economic phenomenon can be derived from a conceptual understanding of these phenomenon
  • Introduce basic concepts in modeling water resources systems and related social behavior.
  • Lean how analytic and numerical models of water resources phenomenon are developed, calibrated, and used
  • Develop an appreciation of the utility and limitations of water resources models
  • Provide practice in constructing cross-disciplinary hybrid models.
  • Learn to work in small groups on complicated technical assignments.
  • Understand the roles of members of the technical community in providing expert input to political and policy processes.
  • Learn to identify target audiences for technical communication, and which communication approaches are best suited to specific audiences.
  • Introduce types of technical communication, focused on sharing results from the modeling work done in class.
  • Learn tools for the effective visual display of quantitative information, based on the results from the modeling work done in class.
  • Introduce public presentation, focused on preparing slide decks and delivering short presentations on modeling work done in class.

Content

The course is divided into three topical segments, each taught by one instructor:

  • Hydrology — Dr. Roach
  • Economic/behavioral systems modeling — Dr. Wang
  • Science and technical communication — Professor Fleck

In addition, a written and oral communication component will be implemented throughout the course. This will consist of two major writing assignments in which students will write technical reports describing their work to produce a hydrology model, and an economic/behavioral model. At intermediate steps along the way, students will also produce brief written reports and presentations on the work in progress to incorporate communication skill development into their technical work.

Prerequisites

WR 571 and [ECON 106 or ECON 300] and [WR 576 or CE 541 or CE 542 or EPS 562].