About Us
Water is the foundation of life on Earth. It sustains ecosystems, supports agriculture and food production, fuels energy generation, and underpins public health. That resource is under growing stress from population growth, climate change, and competing demands from cities, farms, and industry, while floods, droughts, and water quality problems grow more severe worldwide. The Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group (HSGG) at the University of California, Davis trains the researchers who advance the science behind solving those problems.
Our M.S. and Ph.D. programs integrate the physical, biological, chemical, engineering, and social sciences to provide a comprehensive understanding of water across natural and managed systems. Students develop strong analytical and quantitative skills through coursework, independent research, field and laboratory experience, computational modeling, and data science.
Faculty expertise spans groundwater and surface water hydrology, watershed science, Earth surface processes, hydrogeochemistry, aquatic ecology, environmental chemistry, climate science, water resources engineering, sustainable agriculture, and water policy and governance.
HSGG is genuinely interdisciplinary: our faculty represent a wide range of departments and colleges across UC Davis, brought together by a shared belief that the hardest water problems don't respect department lines. Right now, that means 33 faculty and more than 30 graduate students pursuing MS and PhD degrees. HSGG is currently led by Chair Helen Dahlke — read her full welcome message.
Students pursue research through one of five interdisciplinary specializations:
- Earth Surface Processes
- Hydrobiology
- Hydrochemistry
- Physical Hydrology
- Water Policy & Management
Each specialization provides rigorous disciplinary training while encouraging collaboration across fields. Together, they reflect the breadth of modern hydrologic science and prepare students to tackle complex water challenges from multiple scientific and societal perspectives.
Life in HSGG
Despite being spread across a dozen-plus departments, HSGG students and faculty are a genuinely close group. The program comes together throughout the year: an annual fall retreat, a running Hydro Happy Hour, and a spring alumni event that brings former students back to campus to reconnect with current ones.
Our History
HSGG was established in 1991, after a National Research Council report called for hydrology to be recognized as its own integrated scientific discipline rather than a subfield scattered across departments. UC Davis faculty were already building the case for a graduate program that combined physical, biological, chemical, and social science approaches to water, which is also why the group is named Hydrologic Sciences, plural, instead of just Hydrology. That founding structure still shapes the program today, with students choosing from five specializations spanning the physical, biological, and chemical hydrological sciences and water management and policy.
Our Impact
HSGG students and faculty strive to connect their research with state leaders, farming communities, and water users. We do that by collaborating across a range of national, state, and local partners, including the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Almond Board of California, the Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, and various local water agencies among other grant-giving institutions.
Do you want to be part of HSGG? Apply today!
Curious where our graduates end up? Visit our Alumni page to see our full alumni directory.
Collaborators and Funders of HSGG Research:
