Water and the Environment
The Water and Environment Group at UB is composed of three faculty and typically 10 to 15 graduate students. The group's efforts focus on field, laboratory, and numerical studies within the field of environmental geology.
Who We Are
Richelle Allen-King – Hydrogeochemistry, ground-water contaminant transport, nutrients in watersheds, organic pollutants, environmental geochemistry
Chris Lowry – Physical hydrogeology and groundwater flow modeling
Richard Marinos - Biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, watershed science
What We Do
Research in our group is interdisciplinary; students often conduct research across multiple departments on campus. Our research labs focus on contaminant transport, environmental geophysics, numerical methods, and physical hydrogeology. We offer courses in geochemistry, geophysics, hydrogeology, and numerical modeling. We study processes at scales ranging from nano to field. We attack these multi-scale problems by coupling innovative geochemical and geophysical technologies with traditional field experiences. Students in our research programs also benefit from collaborations with scholars in closely-related fields including environmental engineering, geography, and chemistry.
Our Facilities
As geologists, we are fortunate that our research facilities exist all around us! Our man-made facilities include advanced equipment for analysis of solid and aqueous samples, such as:
- X-ray diffractometer (XRD)
- Gas chromatographs
- Total organic carbon (TOC) and total organic nitrogen (TON) analyzers
- Ion chromatograph configured for major cations and anions
- UV-Vis spectrophotometer
- Atomic force microscope (AFM) with inverted microscope and epifluorescence
- Environmental anaerobic chamber
- Geophysics research lab featuring a portable engineering seismograph; ground penetrating radar surface and borehole system; subsurface profiling system, soil moisture time domain reflectometry system; and RTK-GPS
Our students also benefit from many additional facilities available at the South Campus Instrument Center.
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