Faculty
Donald L. Sparks
Ph.D. Soil Science - 1979, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
S. Hallock du Pont Chair of Soil and Environmental Chemistry, and Francis Alison Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware
Research Interests: Research in the Environmental Soil Chemistry Laboratory focuses on how toxic metals such as arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) and plant nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S) are bound (sorbed) on soils. We conduct these studies under different environmental and experimental conditions (pH, time, temperature, hydration state, presence of microbes) to best represent the natural environment. We use bright light sources generated at syncrotron facilities (associated with National Laboratories) to determine the forms (species) of the metals and nutrients in the soil at the molecular scale.
Role in CRB-CZO: Lead PI. Manages overall project, ensuring that research objectives and award conditions are being met by the research team. Participates in research under Objective 1.
Anthony Aufdenkampe
Ph.D. Chemical Oceanography - 2002, University of Washington
Associate Research Scientist, Principal Investigator of the Organic and Isotope Geochemistry group, Stroud Water Research Center
Research Interests: Quantification of the role of river systems in regional and global carbon cycles. Elucidation of how interactions between organic carbon and minerals alter organic matter composition, transport, mineralization and burial. Development of analytical approaches to quantifying the elemental, isotopic and biochemical composition of organic matter in aquatic and terrestrial systems.
Role in CRB-CZO: PI. Oversee integration between all research activities and objectives, data management, and sensor network development. Carbon-mineral complexation, transport and fate (Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4).
Louis Kaplan
Ph.D. Biology (Limnology) - 1980, University of Pennsylvania
Senior Research Scientist, Principal Investigator of Biogeochemistry group, Stroud Water Research Center
Research Interests: Organic matter biogeochemistry, aquatic microbial ecology and nutrient cycling, especially the characterization and quantification of biodegradable dissolved organic carbon and the structure of microbial communities in stream ecosystems.
Role in CRB-CZO: PI. Sources, transport and bioavailability of organic carbon in streams (Objectives 2, 4)
Jim Pizzuto
Ph.D. Geology - 1982, University of Minnesota
Professor Geological Sciences, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware
Research Interests: Fluvial geomorphology and sediment transport. Residence times of contaminated sediments in disturbed fluvial systems.
Role in CRB-CZO: PI. Watershed geomorphology and sediment budgets (Objective 3).
College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment
Kyungsoo Yoo
Ph.D. ESPM-Ecosystem Sciences - 2003, University of California, Berkeley
Land and Atmospheric Science, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota
Research Interests: It is often viewed that soils are comprised of static organic matter and inorganic minerals that are subject to hydrological, chemical and biological processes. However, biogeochemical processes of minerals and organic matter and their interactions occur as they physically move on the earth surface at the wide range of spatial and temporal scales. My research goal is to quantitatively integrate the interactions among rocks, minerals, and organic matter in motion and to use this understanding to define and resolve fundamental questions in the geochemical and geomorphic evolution of landscapes and regional to global biogeochemical cycles. Currently, I am studying carbon cycle and weathering in the Chippewa National Forest in Northern Minnesota, Sierra Nevada in California, and the Piedmont in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Role in CRB-CZO: PI. Hillslope generation and transport of mineral surfaces for complexation with carbon (Objectives 2, 4).
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
Rolf Aalto
Ph.D. Geological Sciences, University of Washington
Associate Professor Physical Geography, University of Exeter, U.K.
Research Interests: River basin processes in fluvial and hillslope geomorphology, especially: sediment and biogeochemical fluxes within fluvial dispersal systems, tropical rivers and their floodplains, sediment-associated carbon cycling, and refining experimental techniques for dating, tracing, and characterizing the production and movement of fine sediment.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Geomorphology; sediment fingerprinting, dating and stratigraphy (Objective 3).
David Arscott
Ph.D. Freshwater Ecology - 2001, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Assistant Director, Stroud Water Research Center
Research Interests: My past research has focused on aquatic primary production, distribution and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates, ecohydrology, and the ecology of rivers and flood plains. Broad interests include riverine landscape ecology and dynamics, aquatic invertebrate and algal ecology, aquatic food web structure and dynamics, habitat conservation, and land-water interactions. Research experiences in Michigan, New Hampshire, Alaska, Minnesota, New York, Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Antarctica have provided me with a broad spectrum of experiences in aquatic habitats from the arctic tundra to the European and Southern Alps to Antarctica.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Sensor network development (Objective 4).
Charles Dow
Ph.D. Forest Resources - 1997, Pennsylvania State University
Director of Information Services, Stroud Water Research Center
Research Interests: My research interests primarily involve land use/land cover impacts and effects on water quality and quantity. Despite the large volume of research devoted to relating watershed conditions to stream water quality, many uncertainties still remain. One such challenge is in separating geophysical controls (i.e. geology, soils) from human-driven land use/cover influences in terms of explaining stream chemistry. Likewise, incorporating issues of scale (whole watershed vs. riparian area versus reach) and proximity of land use/cover to a stream into a statistical framework for explaining stream chemical and biological patterns is also an important area of ongoing research. Further work is also needed in integrating different means of assessing in-stream water quality to provide a more holistic view of stream ecosystem health; a current focus of the Center's New York watersheds project. The ongoing challenge is to take different methods of assessing water quality and incorporate them into a single picture of stream health; one that highlights both the unique aspects of each measure and also the overlapping aspects between measures, leading to 'multiple lines of evidence' for defining water quality conditions.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Data management at both local and national levels (Objective 4).
Susan Gill
Ph.D. Geology - 1996, University of Pennsylvania
Education Director, Stroud Water Research Center
Research Interests: Developing innovative cyberlearning applications in the geosciences that engage students, teachers and citizens. Specific questions of interest include: can we develop compelling learning experiences that allow participants to understand hydrologic and geologic processes at the local scale; can place-based and problem-based education enhance interest in geosciences in secondary and undergraduate populations; and, can success in the field and the classroom translate into interest in geoscience careers?
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Education and outreach (Objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4).
George Hornberger
Ph.D. Hydrology - 1970, Stanford University
Director, Vanderbilt Institute for Energy & Environment, Vanderbilt University
Research Interests: Understanding how hydrological processes affect the transport of dissolved and suspended constituents through catchments and aquifers is one of the main aims of studies of Earth surface processes. Water is “the universal solvent.” Water chemically weathers rocks and soils, carrying dissolved salts from the continents to the seas. It interacts with decaying vegetation and carries organic carbon seaward. Water readily carries chemicals that humans use to the sea, including fertilizers and other agrochemicals. The global water cycle is thus linked to other element cycles, for example, to carbon and nitrogen cycles, and is inextricably linked with a host of ecosystem functions. Moving water carries suspended solids as well as dissolved salts, so the water cycle is also closely tied to cycles of erosion and sedimentation.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Hillslope and watershed scale hydrological modeling (Objectives 2, 4).
Vanderbilt Institute for Energy & Environment
Paul Imhoff
Ph.D. - 1992, Princeton University
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware
Research Interests: Transport of fluids and contaminants in multiphase systems; mass transfer processes in soil and groundwater; sustainable landfilling; minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils and engineered facilities; mathematical modeling.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Modeling of subsurface groundwater, solute and gas fluxes (Objective 2).
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Shreeram Inamdar
Ph.D. - 1996, Virginia Tech
Associate Professor of Hydrochemistry, Department of Bioresources Engineering, University of Delaware
Research Interests:Investigating the controls of hydrologic flowpaths and biogeochemical processes on solute transport and fate in watersheds. Research is conducted through watershed and laboratory studies along with conceptual modeling of observed data. Recent research has focused on studying the quality and dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in watersheds and the fate of hormones and antibiotics in agricultural ecosystems.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Dissolved organic matter sources, fluxes and fingerprints (Objective 2).
Watershed Hydrochemistry Group
Yan Jin
Ph.D. Soil Physics- 1994, University of California-Riverside
Professor of Environmental Soil Physics, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware
Research Interests: Measurements, modeling, and interpretation of contaminant fate and transport in porous media. Investigations include mechanistic studies of colloid mobilization, retention, and transport in saturated and unsaturated porous media; quantification of agglomeration and transport potential of manufactured nanoparticles in porous media; colloid stability and transport in soil as affected by soil properties especially clay and organic matter contents; effect of land application of wastes on fate and transport of microorganisms.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Colloidal-scale transport and carbon-mineral complexation (Objective 1).
Jinjun Kan
Ph. D. Environmental Molecular Microbiology/Biotechnology- 2006, University of Maryland College Park
Assistant Research Scientist, Stroud Water Research Center
Research Interests: Environmental Microbiology; Molecular Microbial Ecology of aquatic ecosystems, particularly freshwater and estuaries, with focus on population dynamics of microorganisms, their interactions with ambient environments including trophic interactions, nutrient cycling, and biogeochemistry.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Environmental Microbiology (Objective 1).
Delphis Levia
Ph.D. Geography- 2000, Clark University
Associate Professor of Ecohydrology, Department of Geography & Center for Climate Research, University of Delaware
Research Interests: Dr. Levia's research examines the hydrology and biogeochemistry of temperate forests. A primary emphasis of Dr. Levia's research is the partitioning of incident precipitation into throughfall and stemflow and its chemical alteration en route to the forest floor. A better understanding of the temporal and spatial variability of these canopy-derived fluxes is essential to gain new insights into the heterogeneous nature of biogeochemical hotspots in the critical zone of forested watersheds.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Forest hydrology and biogeochemical fluxes (Objective 2); sensor network development.
Holly Michael
Ph.D. Hydrology- 2005, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Delaware
Research Interests: Much of the research in my group focuses on groundwater-surface water exchange in dynamic coastal systems. This includes quantification of the flux of fresh and saline groundwater and associated chemicals into nearshore marine systems, characterization of time-dependent physical forcing mechanisms that drive flow and transport, and prediction of the potential effects of changes in climate on coastal aquifer systems. I am also interested in sustainability of water supply, particularly in developing countries, in geostatistical methods for modeling subsurface heterogeneity, and in hydro-economic modeling.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Interactions between groundwater and surface water in the streams and estuaries (Objective 2).
College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment
J. Denis Newbold
Ph.D. Aquatic Ecology - 1977, University of California, Berkeley
Research Scientist, Stroud Water Research Center
Research Interests: Transport, deposition, suspension and mineralization rates of natural studies nutrient cycling, particle transport, and riparian zone influences in stream ecosystems. (spiraling) of nutrients in streams and rivers; riparian zone influences on catchment biogeochemistry.
Role in CRB-CZO: Co-PI. Sediment transport (Objective 3); hydrological modeling and data synthesis (Objective 4).
