Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources (LAWR)
PhD in Hydrologic Sciences / Soils and Biogeochemistry
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (5 Years)
Funding Package: Full tuition remission + 12-month living stipend (~$35,000–$39,000/yr) + comprehensive UC health insurance guaranteed through Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) and Teaching Assistant (TA) appointments.
Fall Priority Deadline: December 15 (Priority Deadline)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 80 minimum or IELTS 7.0 minimum
MS in Hydrologic Sciences (Thesis Track)
Thesis MS Frequently Funded via GSR/TA
Funding Reality: UC Davis Hydrologic Sciences is globally renowned and frequently funds admitted MS thesis students via faculty research grants!
Application Deadline: December 15
Admissions Advisory: If full funding is required and MS is self-funded, students are strongly advised to apply directly to the PhD track.
Vetted Matched Scholars (3 Profiles)
Prof. Helen E. Dahlke
Professor of Integrated Hydrologic Sciences
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She invented a technique that captures dangerous winter floodwaters and deliberately floods farm fields, allowing water to soak deep underground to refill dried-up drinking water aquifers.
Core Research Topics: Flood managed aquifer recharge (Flood-MAR), agricultural groundwater recharge, integrated surface-groundwater hydrology, water quality during recharge, isotope hydrology.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: World pioneer of Flood-MAR (Flood-Managed Aquifer Recharge). Develops statewide engineering and ecological frameworks to divert winter floodwater from overflowing rivers onto dormant agricultural orchards and fields, soaking deep into aquifers to replenish depleted groundwater without drowning crops.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Integrated hydrologic modeling (MODFLOW, HydroGeoSphere), isotopic water tracing, soil moisture dataloggers, GIS spatial suitability analysis.
Recruiting Context: Leader of multi-million dollar California state and federal Flood-MAR initiatives. Highly active in recruiting graduate students in hydrology.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyFlood ModelingWater ResourcesGIS
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Expressing deep interest in Flood-Managed Aquifer Recharge (Flood-MAR) and integrated surface-groundwater modeling, presenting your GIS and hydrology background."
Prof. Thomas Harter
Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Resources Management
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He models how farm fertilizers and chemicals leak down into deep drinking water aquifers, showing communities when and where their tap water will become contaminated.
Core Research Topics: Subsurface groundwater hydrology, agricultural non-point source nitrate pollution, groundwater quality modeling, stochastic hydrogeology.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Directs the UC Davis Groundwater Hydrology Program. Author of benchmark reports on agricultural fertilizer nitrate and pesticide contamination in municipal and rural drinking water wells across the Central Valley of California.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Groundwater flow and transport models (MODFLOW, MT3D), geostatistics, stochastic solute transport, GIS spatial groundwater contamination maps.
Recruiting Context: Major state advisor with extensive funding for hydrogeology and groundwater quality researchers.
Candidate Match:
HydrologyEnvironmental PollutionWater QualityGIS
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in groundwater contaminant transport, agricultural water pollution, and GIS spatial hydrogeological modeling."
Prof. Susan L. Ustin
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Resource Science
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
One of the world pioneers of hyperspectral satellite imaging; she reads the chemical 'fingerprints' of plants from space to reveal whether forests are dying of thirst or getting choked by invasive weeds.
Core Research Topics: Environmental remote sensing, imaging spectroscopy, hyperspectral Earth observation, wetland vegetation mapping, plant water content.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Founder of CSTARS (Center for Spatial Technologies and Remote Sensing). Science team member for NASA airborne and spaceborne imaging spectrometers (AVIRIS, EMIT), mapping invasive wetland weeds, canopy water stress, and forest disease.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Hyperspectral image processing (ENVI, Python), radiative transfer models, airborne imaging spectrometers, Google Earth Engine, GIS.
Recruiting Context: Legendary figure in Earth observation remote sensing at UC Davis.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingGISGeographyEnvironmental Science
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Highlighting your satellite remote sensing and GIS analysis skills, expressing strong interest in imaging spectroscopy of wetland and vegetation water dynamics at CSTARS."