KU Water Research Workshop Registered Participants (Sept.13, 2013) and General Area of Research Interest
Informatics and aquatic ecology; CPCB data manager for aquatic collections, aquatic nutrient and chemistry data, and bioassessments of waterbodies.
Effect of produced water on fracturing fluid properties, this includes the effect of produced water on: 1) the rheological properties of the fracturing fluids, 2) fluid loss behavior of fracturing fluids, and 3) fracture conductivity. In addition, the re-injection of produced water to improve oil recovery which includes 1) experimental measurement of incremental oil recovery using water with modified composition and modeling of incremental oil recovery due to modification of water composition.
Aquatic entomology and invertebrate taxonomy; algal identification; curation; student training in insect identification.
Biodiversity Institute Collection Manager of Midwestern freshwater fishes from mainly Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Physical preserved specimen and data usage for assessment of water and stream quality. eDNA of indicator and endangered species.
Heat and mass transfer; GW-scale power generation; cooling towers.
Global change biology.
Aquatic organism identification and taxonomy; extensive experience in aquatic fieldwork.
Aquifer characterization at the field and regional scales; geostatistical data analysis and modeling; inverse problems; statistical classification techniques; scientific programming.
Research interests include studying multi-scale groundwater/surface water interactions through field investigations and integrated surface/subsurface flow and solute/energy transport models. Currently working with other KU researchers to develop tools to better understand how changing climate conditions and human activities affect watersheds in Kansas.
I am broadly interested in working with hydrology experts and atmospheric scientists to use our understanding of land use change in regions of intensive agriculture and assess together the impacts of land use governance systems on water availability, water quality, and precipitation.
Investigate biosphere-atmosphere interactions of water and carbon using a variety of remote sensing, surface measurements (eddy covariance flux tower observations), and modeling approaches. Interested in the role of surface heterogeneity of vegetation and soil moisture on these exchange processes as well as the response of vegetation to water limitation and coupled interactions of meteorology and phenology.
Research Interests: Kansas groundwater; water policy.
Senior Scientist and Chief of the Geohydrology Section of the Kansas Geological Survey. Current research interests include high-resolution subsurface characterization, well responses to natural stimuli, impact of groundwater development on the High Plains aquifer, and the role of phreatophytes in stream-aquifer systems.
She is an expert in the diversity and evolutionary biology of Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles) with a research focus on insect defenses, subsociality, immature insects, and species interactions. Within Chrysomelidae, several groups have become aquatic or sub-aquatic, spending part of the life cycle in aquatic habitats. Chaboo's primary fieldwork sites are in Namibia and in Peru's Amazon which present extremes of water availability.
Dr. Chao's research interest is in the areas of estimation, control, and dynamics of unmanned aerial vehicles. Dr. Chao is one of the key developers of AggieAir UAS, a small low-cost UAV platform for remote sensing applications. AggieAir UAS has been used by Utah Water Research Lab (UWRL) for multiple research projects on agriculture and riparian applications such as invasive habitat monitoring. Dr. Chao's current research is focused on small/micro UAV development for remote sensing and atmospheric researches, vision-aided navigation, wind/gust estimation, and cooperative control of unmanned systems.
Research interests center on examining the determinants and implications of environmental decision making. Recently she has been exploring what factors drive state and local investment in the nation’s clean water and drinking water infrastructure. She is also interested in understanding enforcement patterns underlying water quality regulation.
Creative research that investigates the perception of place as mediated through technology and personal experience. Recent projects include a multi-year public art photography commission from the City of Phoenix on the subject of water and Phoenix.
Coordinates a statewide database on the rare species and natural communities of Kansas. Information from this database is available to assist in research, conservation planning and environmental review.
Aquatic ecology including lake and reservoir ecosystems; the effects of stressors on aquatic ecosystems; vertical distribution of water quality conditions in thermally stratified water bodies; in situ methods to determine cause and effect in aquatic ecosystems; reservoir condition and assessment.
As part of the Feedstock-to-Tailpipe program, efforts focus largely on the combustion analysis of biofuels. As less water intensive methodologies are employed in the production of these biofuels, we will investigate how the end product changes with respect to performance and emissions. Undergraduate students in the EcoHawks capstone design class have investigated low-energy biomass drying efforts (for co-combustion with coal) to prevent the excessive use of energy and associated water in thermoelectric power plants.
Interpreting high-resolution satellite imagery to investigate the impacts of urban development on aquatic ecosystems, and hydrologic modeling; development of real-time, integrated remote sensing, GIS, and GPS systems to complement emergency management and disaster relief operations. Project Coordinator for the Kansas Biological Survey’s Kansas Urban Water Quality Restoration and Protection Initiative.
My interest in the American landscape led me to write about the cultural expressions of water in "Water in Willow Springs Township," published in Kansas History (Spring 1996), in "Water Witching: Germans and the Magical Tradition on the Prairie Plains," published in Water, Culture, and Politics in Germany and the American West (2001), and in "Homeplace in Art and Life," published in Remembering the Family Farm (2001), in which I discussed waterways and terraces that controlled the run-off and prevented water erosion on my Dad's farm.
Dougherty is interested in water as it relates to thermofluid applications to pumps and heat exchangers. In addition, he is interested in energy production/management using water.
Water is both a political and theoretical concern in my work on environmental literature and rhetoric. While conducting field research on discourse in disaster politics in Southeast Asia, focusing especially on an industrial disaster in East Java that has displaced nearly 50,000 people and polluted local land and water systems, Drake has become interested in several political issues related to water. These interests orbit around general questions about water rights, technical expertise in water management, and the influence of political and economic dynamics on the production and circulation of water. This work is informed by a host of disciplinary perspectives, including political ecology, disaster studies, science and technology studies, and the green humanities. Theoretically, water also provides a productive trope to imagine socio-natural circulations (e.g., capital, commodities, waste, and much more) across not only geographical and cultural scales but also disciplinary boundaries. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected in this era of globalization, it is crucial to understand both material and figurative flows of nature and power in order to best combat the myriad ecological crises facing the world today.
Researched and taught transportation for several years, including public transit by ferry, inland waterways, and maritime shipping. She has organized educational activities with port managers and worked to expand awareness of the potential for maritime modes in the overall transportation system.
As the ARC (Art, Research, Collaboration) researcher my interests lie in how different disciplines collaborate to create research and what types of knowledge are produced in that research. I am also interested in the mechanisms that facilitate collaboration and how different disciplines can inform each other’s working methods.
Research interests include compliance with effluent limits imposed on wastewater point sources permitted within the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, monitoring and enforcement efforts to assure this compliance, implementation of Best Management Practices by nonpoint wastewater sources, and agricultural irrigation from ground and surface water.
My interests in water lie in two areas: Irrigated cropland mapping and monitoring and flood inundation modeling for disaster management.
As a climate scientist investigates the interactions between human activities at the Earth’s surface and climate. Working to create models and databases to assess the impacts of anthropogenic land cover change, urbanization and soil degradation on climate in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Global Climate Models.
Dr. Fowle is a biogeochemist whose water related research focuses on water quality in lakes and wetlands. Specifically he has actively investigated nutrient dynamics (e.g. N and P) and toxic metal cycling in lakes. He also has expertise in the production and cycling of methylmercury in wetlands and reservoirs.
Aquatic and terrestrial plant systematics; floristics; collection-based informatics.
As Director of the KU Protein Production Group Dr. Gao has been working full time in research in the areas of molecular biology, production and biophysical characterization of proteins in the last 18 years. He has an excellent background in protein purification, cell culture, molecular biology and fermentation and extensive experience in sample preparation of challenging proteins for enzymatic studies, NMR, X-ray crystallography, and mass spectrometry. Dr. Gao oversees the operation of the COBRE protein production core laboratory, operates and maintains related laboratory equipment and participates in cloning, expression and protein purification experiments.
Research interests lie at the intersection of cultural and ecological systems. Most recently my work has focused on Kansas farmers' land and water use decisions as these relate to climate change, Kansas’ growing biofuels industry, farmers’ perceptions of these, and other variables.
Gregg examines the intersections between agricultural production and environmental change. Her first book, Managing the Mountains, examined the evolution of land use planning in the Appalachian region. Her current research focuses on the unanticipated consequences of the 1862 Homestead Act, particularly the impact of “free land” on homesteaders and its role in precipitating the development of federally-funded infrastructure for the American West.
Studying the role journalists play in maintaining community cohesion in areas of declining population, such as Western Kansas. The depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer poses a threat to the region and is one of the issues community-based media must address and report.
He is interested in the economics/political economy of water: property rights, allocation among uses, water markets, water as a factor in economic development.
School of Architecture, Design and Planning has identified water as their topic for spring 2014. She is attending to understand what is going on at KU in this area and identifying ways to get faculty and students engaged in the process.
Dr. Hill's research focus is hydrogeology; computer simulation of natural systems; inverse modeling, uncertainty, and risk associated with environmental systems; and how science and public policy inform one another. She is working with the KU interdisciplinary Energy and Water Initiatives.
Geographic information systems and remote sensing for ecological monitoring and wildlife habitat assessment; develops and coordinates the Kansas Natural Resources Planner.
Aquatic ecology and entomology; quantification of human disturbances on aquatic ecosystems.
Remote sensing; bathymetric mapping; sediment thickness classification and type classification; submerged aquatic vegetation surveys.
Research background in environmental engineering and bioremediation of hydrocarbons in soil and groundwater. As part of TORP he has conducted research into fluid flow in porous media. His interests include characterization and treatment of oilfield produced waters, and reduction of water volume required for hydraulic fracturing.
Quaternary geology (~ last 2 m yrs), geomorphology (esp. aeolian (wind) and fluvial/alluvial (water) processes); landscape response to climate change.
Statistics and numerical analysis; floodplain and flood inundation modeling and mapping.
Natural resources management, planning and conservation.
Plant community ecology and botany; riparian and wetland restoration; ethnobotany.
As director of the Biodiversity Institute since 1995, Krishtalka has fostered international research on the life of the planet, on using biodiversity informatics to bring global biodiversity information into currency for science and society, and on science and public policy for understanding and forecasting environmental phenomena for sustainable solutions.
Primary research interest is in mapping water resources and understanding hydrological processes and the interactions between human and environment through the use of water resources. Current research involves developing computational methods and tools for event analysis in spatiotemporal hydro-meteorological datasets, remote sensing of snow/glaciers, snow/glacier-melt runoff modeling in mountain watersheds, spatial optimization, and parallelization of spatial analysis algorithms.
Aquatic ecology; human induced effects on aquatic ecosystem health utilizing changes in macroinvertebrate species occurrence and aquatic community structure as indicators.
Research focused on water resources development and management in Kansas. Specific topics include: 1) development of new methods for more effective site characterizations, 2) modeling investigations of groundwater resources availability and sustainability in Kansas, and 3) field and modeling assessments of aquifer storage and recovery in near-surface aquifers.
Senior Scientist at the Kansas Geological Survey, and a Courtesy Associate Professor of Geology. Sedimentary geologist specializing in stable isotope geochemistry and paleoclimatology, and directs research programs on scientific drilling in the High Plains aquifer of western Kansas.
Research interests of the Lunte group include: (1) microanalytical methods for the investigation of the transport and metabolism of peptides across the blood-brain barrier (2) separation-based sensors employing on-line microdialysis coupled to microchip electrophoresis (3) cell-based assays on chips, and (4) microchip-based diagnostics for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
My research centers on how communities can work cooperatively to become more sustainable and resilient. I use concepts and tools from social network analysis, collaborative policy making, and plan evaluation to study land use approaches for reducing long-term risks from natural hazard and climate change, including flooding and drought.
Nearly everyone has sat on, worn, washed with, or driven in something manufactured using man-made chemicals. Producing these chemicals requires water, either used directly, or indirectly to heat/cool the system or clean up undesirable byproducts. CEBC researchers are designing chemical processes that eliminate byproducts and reduce energy demands, resulting in lower water consumption.
While working at LBNL her environmental interests were channeled into eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union through the lab and the Stockholm energy institute. Although interested in environmental issues, the political and ideological impact on the built environment in Estonia trumped my research on wood burning and shale oil consumption…consequently, I became focused on the politics/political ideology of the built environment. She however is also very concerned about global climate change and human-behavior impacts and has continued research on energy and energy – water issues.
Research interests are in water-rock reactions affecting groundwater chemistry; dynamics of CO2 in shallow groundwater, origins of trace elements in oil- and gas-field brines; use of unconventional light stable isotopes as tracers of brines and water-rock reactions; and water security in water-scarce regions, both in terms of quantity (the functioning of ancient water-supply systems called qanats or karezes) and vulnerability to contamination.
Remote sensing and entomology
General areas of expertise: hydrology, hydraulics and water resources engineering
Water research expertise and interests: watershed hydrology; flood frequency; precipitation frequency; urban hydrology; storm water management; stream restoration; reservoir sedimentation and sediment management; pipelines and pumping systems; design of hydraulic structures.
Clouds are a crucial component of the global radiation balance and constitute a fundamental part of the hydrological cycle by transforming water vapor into precipitation. Our research focuses on understanding cloud dynamic and microphysical processes, precipitation mechanisms, and regional climate.
Meyer’s primary research focus is the intersection of regional art and agriculture. I also strive to explore teaching and research opportunities connected to the topics of water and the environment that are possible through use of the Spencer Museum of Art’s collection.
Russian prose writer Valentin Rasputin has persuaded his government to preserve Siberia's vast water reserves in Lake Baikal, 20% of the earth's fresh surface water, and in Siberia's majestic rivers (e.g., Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Amur, and others). I am Rasputin's principal translator and interpreter in the United States.
Interested in further developing research on flood control and building the dam and reservoir system in the Kansas River basin.
Mammalogy, population biology, and Geographic Information Systems
I have worked in rural southern Haiti with a birthing center, Maison de Naissance, on water testing and new well locating using GIS. My interest is in the spatial aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene programs in developing countries.
His work examines the ways representations of environment and natural experience have historically influenced environmental politics and the constructions of race and gender.
Environmental law, energy law, climate law and policy, administrative law, sustainable development, environmental justice, land use and natural resources law
Research interests include: political environmental issues in the Caucuses and Caspian Sea area; environmental security and vulnerability; environmental conflict.
Her research interests include collaboration among states and counties concerning water governance for the High Plains Aquifer.
Research interests that include the relationships amongst water, energy and carbon (aka the “Water/Energy/Carbon Nexus”). Professional interests include the techniques (e.g. Living Machines) by which the built environment can be designed to: reduce the use of water, reuse the water we can, recycle water back to nature in order to restore healthy hydrological processes.
Parr does research in the areas of flood plain hydraulics, sediment transport, bridge scour, stream stability and hydraulic modeling. Recently he has concentrated on 1- and 2-dimensional modeling of steady and unsteady flow in streams due to dam break and to natural design storm events. His dam break research has been in collaboration with scientists at the Kansas Biological Survey.
He teaches, conducts research, publishes, and consults in water allocation law. Most of his work has been Kansas-based—articles on special water districts, transfers and changes in water rights, movement of water, property rights in water, and condemnation of water rights. Some has been in international comparative law (India and China).
Peltier’s primary research focus is the study of persistent contaminants (particularly metals and organic pollutants) in environmental systems. His research group looks at the chemical reactivity, long-term fate and removal of these compounds in natural waters and engineered systems such as wastewater treatment plants. His team also investigates the use of ecologically-based treatment processes to improve the quality of storm water and other nonpoint source runoff.
Characterize the produced water while simultaneously developing new methods for the remediation of produced water, initially focusing on the removal of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). Analytical Chemistry research background.
Research interests include developing geospatial products and research methods for water use and water quality research. Previously used remotely sensed and geospatial data to assess regional watershed condition and to produce crop and irrigation status maps. Currently creating a database of potential wetlands and playas in Kansas.
Pierotti is developing a Natural Resource Inventory and Assessment for watershed management in Kansas, which will provide a GIS-based tool to inform planning and development strategies to protect natural resources and improve water quality. We employ a framework that embraces sustainability through day-to-day decision-making concerning resource management.
Research interests include: 1) control of naturally occurring and synthetic chemical contaminants in public water supplies through source control, conventional treatment, and advanced treatment technologies, 2) trace organic contaminants in drinking water, including disinfection byproducts, pesticides, taste- and odor- causing compounds, and algal toxins, 3) physical/chemical water treatment processes, including coagulation, lime softening, activated carbon adsorption, disinfection, oxidation, and various membrane processes, especially with respect to their use in removing trace contaminants from drinking water, 4) water treatment plant design, 5) lake and reservoir management as it pertains to water supply & quality, 6) water recycling and reuse for potable and non-potable purposes, and 7) sanitation and other environmental concerns in developing countries.
Invertebrate zoology; freshwater crustacean systematics and ecology; playa wetland ecology and conservation; mosquito and arbovirus surveillance and monitoring; rare and endangered aquatic invertebrates; aquatic bioassessment.
Russell's research synthesizes environmental history, American history, global history, history of technology, and science.
In the field of design computation, her research focuses on building retrofits and architecture performance modeling, including parametric modeling and energy simulation. Her courses promote student investigation of sustainable strategies in architecture.
Besides his applied design practice, his current research is in the areas of cognition & culture as they relate to design artifacts. Shellhorn is particularly interested in exploring strategies for designing experiences that facilitate engagement, understanding and learning in the public space, using information design and motion design.
Diversity, taxonomy, and distribution of aquatic insects, particularly beetles. Development of bioinformatics tools and resources from museum specimen data.
Expertise in terrestrial depositional systems, paleopedology, and ichnology at the Kansas Geological Survey. Currently the PI on a NSF funded research project examining the stratigraphy and depositional history of the High Plains aquifer system in western Kansas.
Research focuses on the structure and function of biological systems. He has worked for more than 30 years on the effects of excess nitrogen and phosphorus loading on water quality, with an emphasis on nuisance blooms of blue-green algae in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and estuaries.
Biodiversity Curator of Fishes; evolution of freshwater and marine fishes; conducted biotic inventories of freshwater habitats and helped develop conservation strategies for threatened freshwater environments in developing countries.
He studies macroecology. His research focuses on describing and understanding the areas of distribution of species. One of the major driving forces of a species distribution is climate, and specifically precipitation. So, his interest in water is essentially from the perspective of a causal factor in biodiversity at planetary scales.
Stock is an environmental and rural sociologist with a primary focus on farmers' values and practices and alternative agriculture. More specifically, those interests revolve around agriculture, food, the environment and morality, and their intersections. He is an editor on the recent volume Food Systems Failure (Routledge, 2011) that uses the most recent international food crisis as an entry to exploring the rhetoric of how to feed the world compared with the reality of global hunger and large scale agriculture. His current research falls under the umbrella of Food Utopias as a trans disciplinary project at KU and internationally to examine the trajectories of global food.
I am an isotope hydrogeologist interested in defining and understanding the complex relationships between chemical, physical, and biological processes that determine a fluid's origin and evolution through the water cycle at a variety of time and spatial scales. Recently, I have focused on cold, arid and semi-arid regions
Her research interests include modern European art (in particular German and Jewish art) and artist networks, as well as exhibition and collecting histories and practices. She is also currently exploring issues in the digital, environmental, and medical humanities.
Research centers around microbiological processes involved in wastewater treatment, water quality impacts, public health, and recently sustainable biofuel resources. This work has taken two forms: (1) coupling nutrient removal from municipal wastewater with the production of an algal feedstock for biofuel production; and (2) modeling how agricultural land-use change with increased production of biofuel crops (corn, soybean, sorghum, etc...) will impact the availability and quality of water in Kansas
As an ecohydrologist, I am interested in investigating the interactions between climate, vegetation and geology on freshwater resources over different temporal and spatial scales. My research focuses on understanding how biological and physical feedback mechanisms influence hydrogeochemical conditions across ecosystems. Research questions revolve around: (1) understanding the influence of plant-groundwater-vadose zone interactions on groundwater solute transport and weathering, (2) utilizing long-term hydrologic and meteorological data to quantify the affects of human modifications and climate on water budgets, and (3) determining the influence of critical zone hydrodynamics on weathering processes. I rely on tracers (e.g. stable isotopes and major ions), examination of physical parameters (e.g. groundwater and surface water levels, sap flow and soil moisture), characterization of hydrologic properties, as well as geochemical and hydrologic modeling and spatial analysis to identify these interactions.
Aquatic community through macrosystem ecology of rivers and wetlands; applied and fundamental research.
Research interests are in applied geophysics (exploration geophysics; hydrogeophysics; biogeophysics) and the development of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and high-resolution seismic imaging methods. Recent research has focused on the geophysical characterization of the fluid-flow properties of fractured rocks, monitoring microbial processes in contaminated aquifers, and imaging of heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs in Kansas such as the Mississippian and Arbuckle.
As a visual artist and professor of design I am interested in water as a subject of creative inquiry. I am interested in utilizing design thinking methods and strategies to understand the subject of water visually, physically, emotionally, philosophically, socially, politically, culturally in local and global contexts.
Research interests in the area of water; Geomicrobiology/Biogeochemistry; Low temperature geochemistry/ solution chemistry; Bioremediation for contaminated water; Fixation of toxic materials on/in bacterial cells or clay minerals; Interaction between minerals and microbes in aquifers; Biological weathering; Microbial biomineralization; Phylogeny of microbial communities in specific environment; Cesium desorption from soil; Uranium fixation
Cations/Anions analyses; Wastewater management
Vanderveen is a glaciologist interested in the dynamics of fast-moving glaciers and ice streams. His research focuses on using measurements of ice velocity and geometry to identify mechanical controls on glaciers and how changes in these controls affect glacier flow and stability. More recently, his research has expanded to studying snow and ice melt in the Himalayas and how climate change may impact discharge of rivers originating in glacierized mountain regions.
Ion-exchange kinetics and equilibria in synthetic and natural ion- exchangers and on simultaneous ion-exchange and bioregeneration in zeolitic ion exchangers; Intensification of the supply of oxygen to aerobic microorganism; adsorption and bioadsorption processes for waste water treatment and potable water pre-treatment, development of combined physical and biological separation processes, and the development of new adsorbents and exchangers based on natural materials.
Research interests that examine the conditions that impel or constrain innovative sustainability practices, especially at the local government level. Recent studies related to water include analyses of storm water management planning, and farmer perceptions of water quality in Kansas.
Conducts research in water resources geochemistry and hydrogeology. Studies include water quality of regional aquifers and stream-aquifer systems, geochemical identification of salinity sources, and participation in a team at the Kansas Geological Survey that models Kansas aquifers.
Research interest includes GIS application development and data assessment, analysis of Kansas water rights, and water resource management at the state and local levels.
Hydrology, Watershed Modeling, Frequency and Trend Analysis in Hydrologic Records, Radar-Rainfall Estimation, Stream Erosion, Reservoir Sedimentation, Storm water Treatment Systems (Bioretention, Constructed Wetlands), LiDAR, and GIS.
A geophysicist using mainly geoelectrical techniques and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study biogeochemical transformations in different porous media/rocks at various scales, characterize petrophysical properties of porous media/rocks, and investigate fluid-mineral interfacial processes. Interested in understanding and describing the complex relationships between hydrogeological/biogeochemical parameters and geophysical signatures.
Water resources and circulation: hydrodynamic simulation of circulation; water processing: water/bubble interaction device; flow in porous media and water filters.