The overall goal of my research is to improve understanding of transport in complex groundwater systems. My approach is to combine field data collection, mathematical description, and computer modeling. The understanding developed by my research plays a key role in determining the accuracy of contaminant transport predictions and in guiding groundwater remediation efforts. This research investigates the physical controls on groundwater flow and contaminant transport.
Hydraulic conductivity is the primary variable controlling flow.
In this work we focus on improving the description of naturally occurring hydraulic conductivity heterogeneity at a variety of scales. Groundwater transport phenomena are difficult to observe and measure because they take place underground. Judicious use of statistics allows more understanding to be gleaned from the usually scarce subsurface data describing an aquifer. The use of groundwater models to predict contaminant movement is now widely accepted by hydrologists and the environmental community at large. But prediction errors are not generally well known or quantified and they directly affect the important decisions made based on the computer simulations.