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Integrated Watershed Sciences Working Group
Participants


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Jay L. Banner, Professor; Director, ESI
Email: banner@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Banner's research investigates how the interactions that occur between the atmosphere-land-ocean systems are preserved in the geologic record. This is explored using field, microscopic, geochemical, and dating studies of 1) cave deposits as records of links between climate change and hydrology, 2) limestones as records of the chemistry of ancient oceans, and 3) modern urbanized aquifers.
Marcy Litvak, Assistant Professor, Plant Physiological Ecology
Email: mlitvak@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Research focuses on the physiological and ecological controls over the exchange of carbon, water and energy between plants and the atmosphere at scales that range from the leaf-level to the ecosystem-level. Current research is on controls over carbon fluxes in the boreal forest following disturbance, and factors influencing carbon, water and nutrient exchange in Texas ecosystems.
David Maidment, Professor
Email: maidment@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: David Maidment is a specialist in surface water hydrology, and in particular in the application of geographic information systems to hydrology. He has been cooperating in this field with ESRI, manufacturers of Arc/Info and ArcView. He and his research team have current projects applying GIS for flood plain mapping, water quality modeling, water resources assessment, hydrologic simulation, surface water-groundwater interaction, and global hydrology.
Paul Montagna, Professor
Email: paul@utmsi.utexas.edu
Research Interests: The benthos modify or influence most geological, chemical, and physical properties of shallow marine ecosystems, so research programs focus on the relationship between benthic invertebrates and environmental factors in aquatic environments. Applied projects explore the effect of freshwater inflow and contaminant gradients on benthic populations, communities, and productivity. Basic research projects are performed to elucidate the ecological processes regulating the structure of macrofauna and meiofauna communities, population dynamics of harpacticoid copepods, and trophic interactions in benthic food webs. A wide variety of tools are employed in these diverse studies. The fundamental tool is invertebrate systematics and taxonomy. Quantitative tools include univariate and multivariate statistical techniques, ecological models, and geographical information systems. Populations are studied with molecular techniques.
John E. McCray, Jr., Associate Professor and Fellow
Email: mccray@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: My research generally incorporates field and/or laboratory experimentation with mathematical modeling. My current interest areas are: watershed-scale hydrology and pollutant transport, remediation of contaminated sites, mass transfer between complex mixtures and ground water, gas flow in the vadose zone, and pollutant transport in the vadose zone (including agricultural, industrial, and wastewater pollutants).
Jay Raney, Associate Director
Email: jay.raney@beg.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Field geology, geologic processes, remote sensing, natural resources. Recent studies: Texas-Mexico database synthesis; El Paso region geologic mapping; geoenvironmental studies Belize and Venezuela; public outreach.
Dick Richardson, Professor
Email: d.richardson@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Our research interests relate to ecological restoration and conservation, particularly of prairies. We have found that functioning of the soil ecosystem is critical for establishing and maintaining a healthy plant community, and the recycling of organic matter from above ground growth to below ground communities of species is greatly facilitated by herbivory, particular by large ungulates like bison, and even livestock. For the beneficial effects the herbivory must be controlled to avoid overgrazing, and to optimize the deposition of dung so burial by insects such as dung beetles is effective. While natural control of herbivory is facilitated by pack-hunting predators, herders can easily simulate the appropriate behavior. When properly managed, the livestock are also useful for revegetating areas if low fertility and/or high erosion are limiting factors. If supplied with hay and the area seeded, even mining wastes can become productive. For examples, there are links from the class web site for Natural Resource Management.
Bridget Scanlon, Senior Research Scientist
Email: bridget.scanlon@beg.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Unsaturated zone hydrology, groundwater recharge, engineered barriers, karst hydrology. Recent studies: Vadose zone studies of semi-arid environments; recharge of Edwards aquifer; enhanced recharge of High Plains aquifer.
Jack Sharp
Email: jmsharp@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: My hydrogeological research covers flow in fractured rocks, thermohaline free convection, fracture skin effects, regional flow in carbonate rocks, hydrology of arid and semi-arid zones, subsidence and coastal land loss, effects of urbanization, and alluvial aquifers. I have long-term interests in the hydrogeology of sedimentary basins and hydrological processes in ore deposit formation.
Libby Stern, Assistant Professor
Email: lstern@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Stable isotope geochemistry applied to : 1) terrestrial climate and vegetation change in the geologic past; 2) vertebrate paleodiet; 3) soils in the global carbon cycle; 4) soil water dynamics and utilization by plants; and 5) soil mineral formation.
Ed Theriot, Professor and Director
Email: etheriot@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Aquatic biology with an emphasis on systematics and ecology of diatoms, especially diatom evolution in the context of environmental change. Research goals are to improve understanding of the utility of diatoms as environmental indicators, particularly as indicators of naturally occurring local and global climate change.
Clark Wilson, Professor and Wallace E. Pratt Professor in Geophysics
Email: crwilson@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: Wilson's research program has included the use of observations of changes in Earth's rotation, center of mass, and gravity field to measure global water and atmospheric mass balance over time scales of days to years. This has involved study of numerical models of the global water cycle, oceans and atmosphere, and analysis of global sea level change.
Liang Yang, Assistant Professor
Email: liang@mail.utexas.edu
Research Interests: My current research interests include: Global Change; Climate Modeling; Land-Surface Modeling; Snow Hydrology; Runoff; North American Monsoon; Tropical Deforestation; Interaction of Terrestrial and Atmospheric Hydrological Processes; Flood and Drought; Remote Sensing
Christine Hawkes, Assistant Professor
Email: chawkes@mail.utexas.edu
David Johns, City of Austin: Watershed Protection Division
Email: david.johns@ci.austin.tx.us
Richard Kiesling, Research Fellow
Email: kiesling@usgs.gov
Marla Knebl
Email: mknebl@mail.utexas.edu
Mike Lyday, City of Austin - watershed protection division
Email: mike.lyday@ci.austin.tx.us
Robert Mace, Texas Water Development Board
Email: robert.mace@twdb.state.tx.us
Barbara Mahler, U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division
Email: bjmahler@usgs.gov
Clyde Muenster
Guo-Yue Niu
Email: niu@geo.utexas.edu
Jean Parcher
Email: jwparcher@usgs.gov
Mary Poteet, Research Fellow, Ph.D.
Email: mpoteet@mail.utexas.edu
Geary Schindel, Edwards Aquifer Authority
Email: gschindel@edwardsaquifer.org
Allan Standen, DB Stephens
Email: astanden@dbstephens.com
Phil Turnipseed
Email: pturnip@usgs.gov
Brad Wilcox
Email: wilcox@tamu.edu
Steve Windhager
Email: stevew@wildflower.org
Chock Woodruff, Woodruff Consulting
Email: chockw@swbell.net
Qianru Zeng, Graduate Research Assistant, B.S.
Email: qianruzeng@mail.utexas.edu