HYDROLOGIC SCIENCES GRADUATE GROUP
FACULTY
Our 33 faculty in the Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group are assembled to span a range of departments, specialities, and research interests. We believe that an interdisciplinary approach to research, teaching and outreach leads to greater scientific and educational outcomes. Browse our faculty to learn more.
Abou Najm, Majdi
Assistant Professor of Soil Biophysics
Email: mabounajm@ucdavis.edu
Research interests: Preferential flow paths, pore structure characterization, multi-domain flow, root-soil-water-plant continuum, water-energy-food nexus, environmental and natural systems, optimization.
Bombardelli, Fabian
Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
3105 Ghausi Hall
Email: fabombardelli@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-0949
Research Interests: Development and use of computational-fluid-dynamics and computational-hydraulics techniques to address problems belonging to the field of environmental fluid mechanics.
Daccache, Andre
Assistant Professor in Irrigation Engineering and Agricultural Water Management
3052 Bainer Hall
Email: adaccache@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530)0219-8438
Research Interests: Design and performance analysis of large water distribution systems and on-farm pressurized irrigation networks, precision irrigation, climate change impact on crop productivity and water resources availability, crop modelling, water footprint, benchmarking irrigation efficiency, use of treated waste water in agriculture, decision support systems for an efficient water use in agriculture.
Dahlke, Helen
Associate Professor in Integrated Hydrologic Sciences
3306 Plant and Environmental Sciences Building
Email: hdahlke@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 302-5358
Research Interests: Experimental research of surface and groundwater interaction, vadose zone transport processes, stochastic hydrology, water resources management, and applications of DNA nanotechnology in hydrology.
Dong, Xiaoli
Assistant professor in Environmental Science & Policy
3156 Wickson Hall
Email: xldong@ucdavis.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Research interests: I study spatial self-organization and emergent properties of ecosystems at multiple scales. Two general questions of interest are:
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How do local interactions among ecological agents give rise to emergent patterning and properties at the landscape scale?
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How does geomorphic evolution of landscapes interact with biological evolution of organisms at the time scale relevant to both processes?
I am particularly interested in developing general theoretical frameworks to understand how an ecosystem works. The primary approach applied is mathematical modeling, combined with monitoring and/or experimental data collected from the field.
Foglia, Laura
Associate Adjunct Professor of Hydrologic Science
235 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: lfoglia@ucdavis.edu
Phone:
Research Interests: Numerical modeling of complex, integrated hydrologic systems, including coupling distributed rainfall-runoff models with groundwater models and surface water-groundwater interactions. Sensitivity analysis, parameter estimation, prediction, and uncertainty evaluation in complex environmental systems. Using hydrological models to determine total maximum daily load (TMDL) and transport of sediments, metals, and bacteria in streams. Global change: effects of climate change and human impact on water resources, with main focus on groundwater depletion, and freshwater ecosystem conservation. Managed aquifer recharge and solution to water scarcity problems in arid and semi-arid countries. Food-energy-water nexus.
Forrest, Alexander
Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
3155 Ghausi Hall
Email: alforrest@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 754-9428
Research Interests: My general area of research focuses on understanding the influences between localized bathymetry and the surrounding water column. As much of this work is on a scale logistically difficult (e.g. large scale shorelines) or impossible (e.g. under-ice) to survey with traditional techniques, I have worked since 2006 with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) as data collection platforms to further my research. My research aim is to continue developing an engineering research group with these vehicles and other emerging technologies to address pioneering scientific questions. The aim requires expertise in varied domains including: (i) environmental fluid mechanics; (ii) bathymetric mapping; and,(iii) invasive species identification and ecosystem assessment. Bringing together these diverse fields, enables an understanding of aquatic habitat and ecosystem assessment not previously available.
Harter, Thomas
Professor of Hydrologic Science
Chair, Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Group
Cooperative Extension Groundwater Specialist
125 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: thharter@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-2709
Research Interests: groundwater and vadose zone processes at the nexus to the agricultural landscape across scales;flow and transport processes in groundwater and in the vadose zone; non-point source pollution of groundwater; groundwater remediation; integrated groundwater-surface water-landscape modeling; sustainable groundwater management and policy; geostatistics; stochastic analysis; numerical modeling; fate and transport of microbial colloids and of emerging contaminants in the agricultural landscape.
Herman, Jonathan
Associate Professor
3131 Ghausi Hall
Email: jdherman@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests:
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Water resources planning and management under uncertainty
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Multi-objective optimization and decision support
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System dynamics and sensitive analysis
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Hernes, Peter
Professor of Hydrology & Assistant Aqueous Chemist
129 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: pjhernes@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 754-4927
Research Interests: Aqueous organic geochemistry, molecular methods development, carbon cycling, river biogeochemistry, tannin diagenesis, photochemistry and transport of lignin/ terrigenous organic matter, mineral protection and interaction with organic matter, dissolved/particulate interactions.
Horwath, William
Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Soil Biogeochemist
3226 Plant and Environmental Sciences Building
Email: wrhorwath@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 754-6029
Research Interests:
Jin, Yufang
Associate Professor of Remote Sensing and Ecosystem Change
Associate Environmental Scientist in the AES
123 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: yujin@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 219-4429
Research Interests: Remote sensing of terrestrial ecosystems, crop monitoring and precision agriculture, fire disturbances, ecohydrology, climate-vegetation-humans interactions, biogeochemical cycles, fire and vegetation management, Geographic Information Systems.
Kisekka, Isaya
Assistant Professor of Irrigation Engineering and Agricultural Water Management
119 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: ikisekka@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530)-379-9549
Research Interests:
Precision irrigation management based on soil and plant water status sensing. Optimization of water and nutrient use efficiency using microirrigation and precision mechanical move sprinkler irrigation
Agrohydrology and crop modeling. Field-based studies on crop response to water and water productivity. Sustainable conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water for irrigation. Salinity management. Water reuse, and alternative water supplies for irrigation. Data analytics (time series, and machine learning) applications in agricultural water management.
Largier, John
Professor of Coastal Oceanography
Bodega Marine Laboratory
Email: jlargier@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (707) 875-1930
Research Interests: My research is in coastal oceanography and ecology, specifically field-based study of water motion and the associated transport of water-borne material. This includes oceanographic study of bays in upwelling regions (open and enclosed bays), small "west coast" estuaries characterized by arid summers, bar-built mouths and pulsed winter inflow, and nearshore circulation (e.g., outflow from rivers, shoaling internal tides, and wind/wave-driven flows). My interest in environmental and ecological issues include larval/juvenile dispersal, coastal water quality (e.g., beach pollution), and primary productivity (including harmful algal blooms). My long-term goal is to better understand coastal ocean systems – to obtain an integrative view of how the diverse components, processes, and scales fit together.
Lazcano, Cristina
Associate Professor of Soil Ecology
Email: clazcano@ucdavis.edu
Research interests: I am interested in understanding the role of ecological interactions on environmental and human health.
Lubell, Mark
Professor in Environmental Science & Policy
Director, Center for Environmental Policy & Behavior
2146 Wickson Hall
Email: mnlubell@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-5880
Research Interests: My research focuses on human behavior and the role of governance institutions in solving collective action problems and facilitating cooperation. The collective action problems associated with environmental policy provide a laboratory for my research. My current projects include watershed management, environmental activism, agricultural best management practices, and institutional change in local governments. I also dabble in experimental economics and simulation techniques to further explore collective action theory.
Lund, Jay
Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Director, Center for Watershed Sciences
3109 Ghausi Hall
Email: jrlund@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-5671
Research Interests: Systems analysis in water resources and environment planning and management.
Monier, Erwan
Assistant Professor, Climate Change Impacts
247 Hoagland Hall
Office: TBD
Fax: 530-752-1793
Email: emonier@ucdavis.edu
M.Eng., Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics (National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse, ENSEEIHT)
Ph.D., Atmospheric Science (University of California, Davis)
Research Interests: My research interests focus on climate modeling and uncertainty quantification, using a hierarchy of climate models and investigating the uncertainty in future projections of global and regional climate change and climate extremes. My interests also include climate impact assessment, using processed-based models,integratedassessmentmodelsand econometric impact models. My research aims at improving the modeling of the coupled human-Earth system, focusing on the Energy-Water-Land dynamics and on the interactions between climate change, air quality and health.
Morales, Verónica
Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
3136 Ghausi Hall
Email: vermorales@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-4008
Research Interests: My work is driven by interest in discovering emerging physico-chemical processes at the micro-scale that control macro-scale transport and fate of colloids and emerging nanoparticle contaminants in soils and groundwater. Some topics I am currently digging into are:
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Fate and transport of particle contaminants in groundwater
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Non-Fickian transport through porous media
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Biochar engineering
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Evaporative self-assembly
Nocco, Mallika
Asst. Cooperative Extension Specialist (soil-plant-water relations and irrigation management)
211 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: manocco@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-4008
Research Interests: regenerative irrigation; precision irrigation; drought resilience, aerial remote sensing, water and salinity stress, feedback between irrigation and climate; science communication and extension
Oldroyd, Holly
Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
3129 Ghausi Hall
Email: hjoldroyd@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-8819
Research Interests: My research interests include environmental turbulent flows as found in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere with a focus on water-land-atmosphere interactions. Investigating surface exchanges of mass and energy improves our understanding of evapotranspiration, microclimates, turbulence intensity, and the transport of greenhouse gases or environmental pollutants. I use field investigations, laboratory measurements, and numerical simulations to investigate fundamental turbulent transport dynamics, enhance model development, improve forecasting capabilities, and inform resource management strategies, with a focus on mountainous regions, urban areas and the transitional zones between them.
Pandey, Pramod
Assistant Professor of Population Health and Reproduction
Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist (microbiological waste)
Email: pkpandey@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-0615
Research Interests: My research and extension plan at University of California, Davis is to derive engineering solutions (involving veterinarians, engineers, specialist, farm managers, and dairy farmers) for controlling microbial pathogens from animal waste. I use basics of hydrology, fluid and sediment transport, climate, and behaviors of bacteria at different environmental conditions to understand pathogenic bacteria transport from farms to ambient water.
Pasternack, Gregory
Professor of Hydrology
223 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: gpast@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 302-5658
Research Interests: My group helps society manage and restore hydrogeomorphic processes in support of enhanced ecosystem functioning. We do this through a combination of (a) basic physical and ecological science to understand how the naturally complex landscape works and (b) direct engagement in environmental restoration and management to get our capabilities into the hands of practitioners, regulators, and stakeholders.
Paw U, Kyaw Tha
Professor of Atmospheric Science and Biometeorologist (in the AES)
139 Hoagland Hall
Email: ktpawu@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-1510
Research Interests: Biometeorology, micrometeorology, evapotranspiration, turbulence, aerosol physics, and boundary layer meteorology.
Pinter, Nicholas
Professor of Geomorphology
Roy J. Shlemon Chair in Applied Geosciences
3113 Earth and Physical Sciences
Email: npinter@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 754-1041
Research Interests: My research focuses on earth-surface processes (geomorphology) applied to a broad range of problems. Much recent work involves rivers, fluvial geomorphology, flood hydrology, floodplains, and watersheds. My research group applies fluvial geomorphology, hydrologic and statistical tools, hydraulic modeling, and other approaches to assess river dynamics and flood hazards. Although much current research focuses on rivers, I continue to work on a broad range of processes that shape the earth surface and operate, in particular, over anthropogenic time scales (yes, the "Anthropocene"). One pressing human application is for managing risk from natural hazards, and my group has worked extensively on quantifying those risks, guiding mitigation and other solutions, and providing a scientific basis for sound natural-hazards public policy.
Poulin, Brett A
Assistant Professor
Email: bapoulin@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: Fate and transport of trace metal contaminants in surface water environments (e.g., river-reservoir systems, wetlands) with an emphasis on mercury, organic geochemistry, carbon cycling and biotic/abiotic transformations, particle chemistry, applications of advanced X-ray techniques for characterization of environmental matrices.
Sadro, Steven
Assistant Professor
3118 Wickson Hall
Email: ssadro@ucdavis.edu
Phone: 530-752-6301
Research interests:
Fundamental physical, chemical, and biological limnology of high-elevation lakes and streams, coupled lake-watershed processes, carbon and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems, climate change impacts on lakes, food web dynamics, and wetland ecology.
Sandoval Solis, Samuel
Assistant Professor of Hydrology
Cooperative Extension Specialist in Water Management
135 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: samsandoval@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 754-9646
Research Interests: Integrated water resources management, environmental flows, transboundary basins, water conservation and efficient use of water.
Schladow, Geoffrey
Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Director, Tahoe Environmental Research Center
Email: gschladow@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-3942
Research Interests: Professor Schladow’s area of interest is the interaction between fluid transport and mixing processes with water quality in natural and engineered systems. Examples of such systems include lakes, rivers, estuaries and mining pits. Using a combination of field experimentation, detailed laboratory studies and numerical modeling, he is better quantifying the critical flux paths in these systems. The results of this work will lead to improved methods of managing and controlling our water resources.
Scott, Tyler
Assistant Professor
2412 Wickson Hall
Email: tascott@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: How institutional complexity affects individual and collective water resource behaviors. The role of stakeholder input and scientific evidence in water and energy infrastructure decision-making. Resilience of community water systems and utilities. Water infrastructure finance. Natural language processing, statistical network analysis, and agent-based modeling.
Suvočarev, Kosana
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension, Specialist in Biometeorology
Email: ksuvocarev@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests:
Yang, Da
Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
Email: dayang@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: My research is to develop a unified understanding of how the tropical atmosphere works, and the key is to understand moist convection—cumulus clouds and thunderstorms. Moist convection dominates vertical energy transport in the lower atmosphere, and its interaction with atmospheric circulations forms the basis of a spectrum of atmospheric phenomena across wide temporal-spatial scales. I am now thinking about the following questions that help advance our understanding of multiscale convection. How do mesoscale [O(100 km)] cloud systems cluster together? What sets the propagation speed of synoptic scale [O(1,000 km)] tropical waves? What is the nature of the planetary scale [O(10,000 km)] Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)?
Yarnell, Sarah
Associate Professional Researcher
Email: smyarnell@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: My research interests focus on integrating the traditional fields of stream hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, and stream ecology in the river environment. This includes research that applies understanding of ecological processes to managed river systems in an effort to improve their functionality and resiliency while continuing to provide the ecosystem services upon which we rely. I work closely with researchers from government agencies, NGOs, and other academic institutions on topics such as environmental flows, regulated river management, and stream restoration. My research interests also include freshwater conservation in headwater systems, including studies on the hydrogeomorphic processes within montane meadows and the impacts of restoration actions on native species habitat.
Zaccaria, Daniele
Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist
231 Veihmeyer Hall
Email: dzaccaria@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 219-7502
Research Interests: Agricultural water management, irrigation, agriculture, fruit and nut trees, environment and natural resources.