Research Blog
My research interests include high-resolution monitoring and modeling techniques to better understand groundwater flow in spatially and temporally complex geologic systems. Methods include geochemical sampling of groundwater after recharge events, fracture flow modeling, and the use of thermal imagery from drones. My study sites have included areas in Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida, and now western Montana. |
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The Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. As part of this we held a Centennial Celebration with a variety of demonstrations and exhibits in the Bureau building for the public to stop by and enjoy. The exhibit I helped set up was called the Water Bar, in which we brought in about a dozen drinking water samples from around Montana which visitors could try out for themselves. The numbers on the jugs were the specific conductance (SpC) values we measured beforehand; basically, a rough indication of the amount of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water. As this has an effect on taste, visitors were able to see directly how high or low TDS affected taste for them, and which they preferred. After trying the different waters, they could flip over the labels to see where the water was from, along with a cartoonized summary of the geology. Visitors voted on their favorite tasting water and the winner was Butte groundwater from the Groundwater Control Area! Around the same time I also attended the Montana chapter of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) held in Red Lodge, Montana. A blizzard hit the region a few days before so there were some travel difficulties, but we made it! Most of the MBMG department attended the conference. At the conference I presented on some of my findings from Temple University on conduit flow modeling using FEFLOW. My finished poster was larger (obviously).
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