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My research is focused on understanding hydrological and geochemical
interactions that occur near the earth's surface and the effects of external
anthropogenic and climatic forcing on these interactions. I use geochemical
tracers (both trace solutes and isotopes) in my investigations of earth
surface processes. During the last decade, isotope hydrology as a sub-field
has matured significantly and can now be used to addresses a significant
number of new problems relating to hydrology and near surface processes.
I believe it is important to work on fundamental aspects of regional environmental
problems and I spend about half of my time on this type of research. My
graduate studies on the Hudson River and, more recently, my research on
Aquifer Storage and Recovery in California and aspects of the study on
natural marine hydrocarbon seepage are examples of this effort. The remainder
of my research time is spent examining geochemical problems related to
global cycles and climate change (both recent and glacial/interglacial).
My research on the hydrochemistry of springs, paleo-proxy data stored
in groundwater, and methane emissions from hydrocarbon seepage illustrate
this effort. Although my work examines problems in different environments,
it is united by a common set of questions: how do transport processes
affect water chemistry and quality and what are the impacts of climate
change and other anthropogenic forcing on water chemistry and flow.
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