Here are some examples of previous MSc thesis projects undertaken by our students in the past few years, and their sponsors (in brackets). 

Water quality


  • The impacts of de-icers on water quality in the rivers around Heathrow Airport (Heathrow Airport)
  • Assessment of water quality in the Kilby Foxton Canal SSSI (Canal and River Trust)
  • Protecting the quality of drinking water sources (Affinity Water)
  • Estimation of in-stream pollutant travel times in Anglian Water’s supply catchments (Mott MacDonald / Anglian Water)
  • Identifying sources of pollution from surface water outfalls in the Grand Union Canal and/or River Lee Navigation (Canal and River Trust)
Water-related risks


  • Understanding the 2018 drought hydro-climatic conditions: experiences and lessons from the UK livestock sector (National Farmers Union, NERC)
  • Groundwater flood risk, Luton (Luton Borough Council)
  • Mapping the global water risk of fresh flowers supplied to the UK (ASDA) 
  • Understanding the role of local collaborative networks in tackling water-related risks (Pyterra)
  • Assessing the utility of drought and water scarcity indicators for UK agriculture (NERC Research Project)
River restoration and environmental issues


  • Groundwater and soil nutrient impacts on floodplain wetland (The Parks Trust)
  • Ecological response to river restoration on a SSSI chalk stream (Atkins)
  • Fish barrier assessment and obstructions to fluvial processes in Hertfordshire chalk streams (Environment Agency)
  • Sediment sampling techniques: a comparison of methods (Canal and River Trust)
  • Geomorphological response to river restoration on a SSSI chalk stream (Atkins)
Water for food


  • Evaluating water needs in Valle del Ica (Peru) across the water, energy, food and environmental nexus (NERC Research Project)
  • What is the potential for farm scale aquifer storage and recovery?  (Environment Agency)
  • Assessing environmental water resources impacts of agricultural development in Malta (EU Research Project)
  • How will abstraction reform affect agricultural irrigation from groundwater? (NERC Research Project)
  • Risk to security and safety of supply of M&S  supply chain using boreholes (M&S)
Water resources assessment and management solutions


  • Multi-scale characterisation of hydromorphology for WFD (Environment Agency)
  • Modelling hydrology in high altitude catchments with scarce data (NERC and NIK-Roorkee (India))
  • Spatial and temporal changes in the geomorphology of an urban river: a case study of the river Aire (Leeds City Council/Arup)
  • Characterization of regional rainfall data for the design of SuDS in the UK (British Water)
  • How effective are cover crops as a catchment management measure? An experimental approach (Environment Agency)