Ecohydrology lab
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Samantha Hartzell
Ecohydrology is the study of the way in which water moves through ecosystems, both natural and urban. We are particularly interested in the impacts of vegetation on the movement of water, carbon, and energy between the land surface and atmosphere, and vice versa. We study the ways in which plants have altered their hydaulic and photosynthetic strategies to survive in water-limited ecosystems, and what this means for the future of natural and agroecosystems impacted by climate change. Some examples of our research are green roof vegetation and hydrology, plant hydraulic redistribution, and dynamical systems modeling of agroecosystems.
Key skills needed: Projects may be numerical or experimental in nature, depending on student background/interest. For numerical projects, programming skills such as MATLAB or Python are helpful but not required. For experimental projects, previous experience is not assumed. In either case, experience with Excel, careful attention to detail, and a willingness to work hard and problem solve is required.