First Student Receives River Science and Engineering Graduate Certificate

Two years ago, the School of Science and Engineering initiated a new department, the Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering.   As the department’s first educational mission, the department stood up an accredited graduate certificate program in River Science and Engineering, which entails the completion of 15 hours of river-related graduate course work, covering topics such as stream restoration, river modeling, river mechanics and data collection and analysis methods in riverine environments.  The program is a partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers and includes senior government scientists and engineers as part of the instructional team.  It seeks to provide students with a blend of rigorous academics and practical experiences in river research and management.

In December, Autumn Murray became the first student to complete the graduate certificate program.  Autumn received her BS in Geology from Eastern Kentucky University and is slated to complete her MS at Tulane in Earth and Environmental Science within the next few months.  Autumn decided to pursue the certificate to augment her master’s program and to gain specialized knowledge about rivers.  She has recently started employment with the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory at the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi as a Research Physical Scientist.