Interdisciplinary Programs
Water Science and Policy
Welcome from our Interim Director
I am delighted to be appointed by the provost and the dean as the interim director of the University of Delaware Graduate College’s interdisciplinary program in water science and policy. Established in 2014 by authorization of the Faculty Senate, the program began as an experiment in multidimensional thinking and is the oldest interdisciplinary degree program housed in the Graduate College. We have awarded close to four dozen doctoral and master’s degrees over the last decade to students who come from all over Delaware, America and the world to study about water.
Interdisciplinary graduate programs have the benefit of flexibility by allowing the students, with their advising faculty, to design their own course curriculum and choose from the full depth and breadth of the colleges and departmental programs at our University. As the foundation of our planet’s environment and economy, water is found in all strands of society and therefore it's entirely appropriate that our graduate program in water science and policy have an interdisciplinary approach to thinking and learning. Because after all, isn't this our real mission here at UD: to take a broad-based approach to critical thinking and create new knowledge? That's exactly what water science and policy students have been doing here by researching and studying and then going on to get good jobs in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
Our graduates are working on climate science in Spain, drought in California, the Puget Sound in Seattle, drinking water in New York City, water management in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and water treatment in Wilmington, Delaware. They are doing great things for society and before long, they become our next generation of leaders, which is reassuring to me in today’s world. So welcome to the interdisciplinary graduate program in water science and policy. I hope you consider joining us!
Gerald Joseph McAdams Kauffman, Jr.
Director and Associate Professor
University of Delaware - Water Resources Center
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration
Institute for Public Administration
By choosing to study Water Science & Policy at the University of Delaware, you will be embarking on an exciting intellectual journey that will challenge you to synthesize knowledge from a number of different fields. No matter what aspect of water you choose as your research focus, you’ll be encouraged to look at how it intertwines with other natural and human aspects of water quality and quantity.
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Growing resilience
February 17, 2026 | Written by Molly Schafer | Photos courtesy of Carol LongThis year, Winterthur celebrates its 75th anniversary; the estate was incorporated as a museum in 1951. The 60 acres of wild gardens were created in the early 1900s by horticulturist Henry Francis du Pont. Distinguished alumna Carol Long is the garden manager at Winterthur, where portions of the grounds are home to some of the oldest trees in Delaware. Long discusses the changes in the natural world she has observed throughout her 34-year career. -
Protecting turfgrass from fungal foes
February 11, 2026 | Written by Karen B. Roberts | Photos by Evan Krape and courtesy of Charanpreet Kaur/the Bais lab | Photo illustration by Jeffrey C. ChaseUniversity of Delaware researchers report new understandings in how microbes protect plants. In new research in the journal Plant Stress, UD Plant Biology Professor Harsh Bais on colleagues report the effect of a University of Delaware-developed beneficial bacterium on dollar spot suggests implications for the manufacturing of biological treatments for the fungal disease. -
Community conservation
January 28, 2026 | Written by by Katie Peikes | Photos courtesy of Brian Griffiths and by Dylan Francis, Elizabeth Benson and Wilfredo Martinez | Photo illustration by Katie YoungBrian Griffiths, a UD Class of 2016 alumnus with degrees in plant science and environmental engineering, has made a career out of going to the Peruvian Amazon and supporting rural and Indigenous communities with wildlife management goals. A trip to the Peruvian Amazon in his undergraduate years set him on a career path exploring conservation, and how humans are connected with their natural world.
Connect
234 Hullihen Hall, Newark, DE 19716 USA grad@udel.edu General: (302) 831-6824 Fax: (302) 831-8745