16.10.2015

VALUE Course 2015

Short Doctoral Training Course
Northern hydrology – research methods and foreseen changes
University of Oulu, Linnanmaa Campus, Lecture Room TBC, Oulu, Finland
Autumn term 2015

Background
Northern areas are facing rapid warming due to climate change, which is leading to complex changes in the natural environment and societies. Shift in thermal regime has drastic impacts in cold climate hydrological cycle changing water availability and quality. These changes are important to understand as they assign boundary conditions for social and economic development. In addition to direct human impacts, expected changes in hydrological processes will affect carbon and nitrate cycles, ecological communities, geochemistry and microbiological activity in Northern natural environment.

Short description
Course will link multidisciplinary Northern and Arctic research and cover hydrological processes in the North. The processes strongly relate to the fields of hydrogeology, geochemistry, agricultural sciences, forest sciences, geography, remote sensing, ecology and civil engineering.

The course will tie the gap between theoretical concepts and practical applications by introducing state-of-the-art research methods and demonstrate use of available databases. Building on these learning outcomes, students will have the tools to understand expected hydrological changes in the future, which are relevant for their individual research topic.

Target group
The corse is excellent for multidisciplinary doctoral students in environmental sciences, whose research activities are related to Northern latitudes. Students will be introduced the key hydrological processes in cold climates.

Costs and capacity
The course is free and open for all doctoral students. The course includes field excursion/site visit. Maximum number of participants is 30.

Registration:
Registration is closed, ask for open positions by e-mail from hannu.marttila (at) oulu.fi

Organizers
The course is arranged in collaboration between the universities of Oulu, Aalto, Turku and Helsinki, Finnish Environment institute (SYKE) and Northern research institute (NORUT), Norway.

Course structure
The course will consist of independent work before and after the course, and intensive contact learning period:

• PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENT:
  Familiarize students with course themes by exploring given scientific literature and preparing summary reports.
• THREE-DAY INTENSIVE PERIOD:
  a. A field visit to demonstrate and apply hydrological measurement techniques in winter conditions.
  b. Lectures and demonstrations by experts in the field to cover the theoretical basis of studied subjects
  c. Hands-on exercises will demonstrate the students in practice how to process environmental data with computational techniques (statistical analysis and hydrological models).
  d. Group discussion/mini-seminars to present results from different tasks or discuss studied content of the day
  e. Student presentations and acting as an opponent (optional)
• POST-COURSE REPORT:
  Reflective learning diary to reflect on what students have learned and describe what the learning process has been like. The diary should elaborate on impacts of expected hydrological with regard to each student’s particular field of research.
  

Intensive Learning period 1-3 December, 2015, here the program of the period,

More information:
Senior Researcher Hannu Marttila; Tel. ++358 294 48 4393, hannu.marttila at oulu.fi
Instructional coordinator Riitta Kamula, Tel. +358 294 48 3566, riitta.kamula at oulu.fi