Your day-to-day duties may include:

• measuring river flows and the amount of water above and below ground
• investigating the causes and impact of flooding and drought
• modelling rainfall patterns under different climate conditions
• studying snowfall, glaciers and ice formation
• analysing water samples for chemicals and pollutants
• assessing water use in agriculture and industry
• working on engineering projects like dams, drainage and flood defences
• advising policy makers on sustainable water use
• collecting data from flood events to improve forecasting and risk management

You could work in an office, in a laboratory or in the countryside.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.

You could become a senior hydrologist, co-ordinating a team of researchers, hydrologists and engineers.

You might also work as a consultant, advising government departments and businesses on sustainable water use, civil hydro-engineering projects or flood risk management.