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Current Research Projects

General areas of interest include the remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater, wetlands hydrology, and watershed-scale hydrologic processes.

Subsurface Hydrology

· Impact of Partial Removal of DNAPL Aquifer Contaminant Source Zone Mass  [Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, SERDP]
Laboratory, field, and numerical modeling investigations of the relative benefits of partial removal of nonaqueous phase liquid contaminant source zone mass on contaminant mass flux (2001 - present).

Wetland Hydrology

· Everglades Water Quality Model: Coupling Phosphorus and Hydrologic Cycles   [United States Geological Survey/South Florida Water Management District]
Development of phosphorus cycle conceptual and mathematical models coupled to hydrologic model for regional-scale marsh wetlands in South Florida (2004 - present).

· Phosphorus Retention and Storage by Isolated and Constructed Wetlands in the Lake Okeechobee Basin  [Florida Department of Agriculture/Florida Department of Environmental Protection]
Field-scale evaluation of the benefits of isolated wetlands for removing phosphorous from waters entering Lake Okeechobee, Florida. (2002 - present). [Field site photos]

· Improving Evapotranspiration Estimates by Relating Specific Yield to Soil Properties
Theoretical and computational analyses compared to measurements of evapotranspiration collected in marsh and cypress dome wetlands in South Florida (2001 - present).

Recently Completed Projects

· Rejuvenation of the Orlando Easterly Wetland: Performance Improvement Assessment  [City of Orlando]
Tracer tests, water quality sampling, and mathematical modeling for the largest municipal treatment wetland in Florida to evaluate the improvement in performance following restoration of the wetland (2003 - 2005).

· Hydraulic Performance Evaluation of Periphyton Treatment Cells for the Removal of Phosphorus from Surface Waters Entering the Everglades  [University of Florida Center for Natural Resources/South Florida Water Management District]
Field-scale tracer tests in Everglades wetland treatment cells. Results correlated to analytical models (2002 - 2003). [Field site photos]

· In-situ Quantification of Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Mass Flux and Intrinsic Remediation using Fiber-optic Biosensors   [National Science Foundation]
Laboratory development of fiber optic technology for quantification of mass flux, and microbial flux (2001 - 2003).

· Determining Indicators of Ecological Change   [SERDP]
Surface and subsurface hydrology field work and numerical modeling to develop hydro-ecologic indicators to assess the impacts of military training and other land uses on the integrity of the ecosystems at Fort Benning, Georgia (1999 - 2002). [Field site photos]

· Determination of an Appropriate Onsite Sewage System Setback Distance to Seasonally Inundated Areas [Florida Department of Health]
Evaluate potential for nutrient and contaminant discharge to wetlands from septic tank systems. Field work and groundwater flow and solute transport modeling (1999).

· Field-scale Aquifer Remediation   [Applied Advanced Technology Demonstration Facility, AATDF]
Field-scale in situ flushing aquifer remediation experiments using cosolvents and surfactants at the following field sites: Hill Air Force Base, Utah (1995, 1996); Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario (1997); Dover Air Force Base, Delaware (1998-1999); and a former dry cleaning facility in Jacksonville, Florida (1998).

· Field-scale Aquifer Characterization Using Tracer Techniques   [SERDP]
Performed field-scale tracer tests for the characterization of contaminant mass and morphology at each of the above-listed field sites.  Conducted the first ever field-scale interfacial tracer test in 1996 at Hill AFB.

· Laboratory Investigations of Aquifer Remediation   [Air Force Office of Scientific Research, AFOSR]
Studied effects of non-homogeneous fluid densities and viscosities on hydrodynamics of in situ flushing, potential for mobilization of trapped nonaqueous phase liquids due to buoyancy and interfacial forces, and effects of rate limitations on cosolvent- and surfactant-enhanced dissolution of nonaqueous phase liquids (1995-1998). Laboratory findings were applied to the above-listed field experiments.

· Laboratory Investigations of Partitioning Tracers   [AFOSR]
Investigated interphase partitioning in batch, one-dimensional, and two-dimensional flow settings.  Developed a technique to quantify the spatial distribution of aquifer contaminants using partitioning tracers and the method of moments (1996-1999); applied to numerical simulations and both laboratory and field data (1998-1999).

· Numerical Flow and Transport Modeling   [AATDF]
Implemented UTCHEM, a three dimensional finite-difference chemical flood simulator, for modeling both laboratory and field-scale partitioning tracer and in situ flushing experiments (1995-1998).  Also developed and implemented a one-dimensional approach for modeling the effects of kinetic constraints on laboratory- and field-scale enhanced dissolution of nonaqueous phase liquids by cosolvents and surfactants (1999).

Environmental Hydrology Lab | Soil & Water Science | Hydrologic Sciences