I've been studying and researching karst landscapes through most of my academic career. I first became interested in karst while attending Winona State University in Minnesota, in the heart of the Driftless Area of the Upper Midwest. Having been generally spared by the effects of the latest glaciations, this region is a topographically distinct island surrounded by an otherwise flattened landscape, full of river valleys, sinkholes, and springs. I became fascinated not only with this particular geologic region but of karst overall with its own set of unique challenges regarding hydrology and engineering.
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For my master's research at Missouri State University I received funding from the Department of Transportation to help investigate the formation sinkholes and near-surface karst flow around a major highway. This project involved performing dye traces between sinkholes/sinking streams and nearby springs along with near-surface geophysical methods to characterize the newly forming sinkhole in Springfield, Missouri. This research resulted in two publications after graduation on the quantitative dye trace method I employed and the 3D electrical resistivity profiles to characterize the sinkhole in the subsurface.
While employed at the Minnesota Department of Health as a sourcewater protection hydrologist I was involved on several wellhead protection plans for municipalities in karstified regions of the state. One wellhead protection plan in particular I was involved with was for the city of Fountain, Minnesota, colloquially referred to as "the sinkhole capital of the United States of America."
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For my PhD research at Temple University I've continued to pursue research within karst hydrology. My project within central Pennsylvania's Nittany Valley tasked with exploring historical water chemistry and temperature trends of springs along with storm hydrograph chemistry sampling and flow modeling to better understand source area, recharge, and flow behaviors of Valley and Ridge Province aquifers. I've had the opportunity to present these findings at many research conferences such as Geological Society of America meetings, Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium, and the 2018 EuroKarst Conference in Besançon, France. I've also authored a chapter in the Handbook of Environmental Chemistry 68: Karst Water Environment on historical trends and rare earth element patterns in karst springs and for the National Cave and Karst Research Institute on stable water isotope responses of springs after storms.
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I always enjoy being able to travel to locations with karst environments. One place in particular I enjoy is the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, known for its unique karst features; cenotes (sinkholes leading to typically water-filled caves). While visiting the ruins of Chichen Itza I learned my tour guide also studied karst for his master's degree, in particular using electrical resistivity geophysics to find caverns and passages around the temples. Needless to say we both had a lot to talk about!