Water Science and Management (Water Informatics) - Master of Science

This degree is designed primarily for students who wish to complement their primary discipline by obtaining scientific, technical, and managerial expertise in water. The Master’s degree can be earned with 26 credits of formal course work, plus 6 additional thesis research credits, as detailed below. The degree also have five available concentrations.

Prefix Title Credits
Core Courses
AEEC 575Economics of Water Resource Management and Policy3
RGSC 518Watershed Methods and Management3
or SOIL 456 Irrigation and Drainage
Select one from the following: 13-4
Statistical Inference I4
Statistical Hydrology3
Spatial Analysis and Modelling3
Seminar Credit OR Select one from the following: 21
Arid Land Water Resources3
Water and Sustainable Economic Development3
Research Design and History of Geographic Thought3
Concentration Electives
Students must work with their committee to select 12 credits of elective course(s) that would meet the Water Informatics concentration12
Electives chosen in consultation with the student’s committee (enough to meet the required minimum of 32 credits)4
Thesis
WSAM 599Masters Thesis6
Total Credits32-33
1

With the consent of the instructor and the approval of the student's advisor, C E 582 Statistical Hydrology or GEOG 585 Spatial Analysis and Modelling may be used as a substitute.

2

Seminar may be substituted by WSAM 605 Arid Land Water Resources, or WSAM 610 Water and Sustainable Economic Development, or GEOG 501 Research Design and History of Geographic Thought.

New Mexico State University master’s accelerated program provides the opportunity for academically qualified undergraduate students to begin working on a master’s degree during their junior and senior years while completing a bachelor’s degree. Typically, a bachelor’s degree requires four years to complete, and a master’s degree requires an additional two years. The master’s accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to complete a graduate program in an accelerated manner. You can also check NMSU’s catalog for additional information about our programs. 

MAP Requirements

  • The Graduate School allows qualified junior or senior students to substitute its graduate courses for required or elective courses in an undergraduate degree program and then subsequently count those same course as fulfilling graduate requirements in a related graduate program.
  • Undergraduate students may apply for acceptance to the accelerated master’s program after completing 60 semester hours of undergraduate coursework of which a minimum of 25 semester credit hours must be completed at NMSU.
  • The grade point average must be at a minimum of 2.75.
  • Students must receive a grade of B or higher in this coursework to be counted for graduate credit. If a grade of B- or lower is earned, it will not count toward the graduate degree.

Accepted MAP Courses

The following courses are accepted for use in the MAP program, any other courses may be considered after a consultation with an advisor. An exception will need to be made to the degree audit in order for the additional course(s) to be included on both the Undergraduate and Graduate degrees.

Prefix Title Credits
ENVS 462Sampling and Analysis of Environmental Contaminants3
ENVS 470Environmental Impacts of Land Use and Contaminant Remediation3
SOIL 456Irrigation and Drainage3
C E 452Geohydrology3-4
C E 483Surface Water Hydrology3
A ST 505Statistical Inference I4
AEEC 575Economics of Water Resource Management and Policy3
GEOG 481Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science (GIS)4