research
In our research, we explore the ways in which climate, land use and management practices impact water quality in anthropogenic landscapes. In recent work, we have focused on the long-term impacts of intensive agricultural practices on water quality. We are interested in the development of parsimonious modeling frameworks to explore biogeochemical nutrient dynamics and contaminant transport across a range of scales, to better our understanding of functional linkages between watersheds and lake/coastal systems, and to explore the short- and long-term impacts of human activity on water quality. The work in our lab is inherently interdisciplinary, situated at the crossroads of hydrology and biogeochemistry and providing outward linkages to a range of different disciplines, from ecology to economics.
Nutrient Legacies and Time Lags
In this research, we are developing a framework for quantifying nutrient legacies in human-dominated landscapes. We use both process-based and statistical models to better our understanding of how these legacies contribute to time lags between implementation of conservation measures and measurable improvements in water quality. We are currently expanding our ELEMeNT modeling framework to include coupled nitrogen/phosphorus/carbon dynamics and are using machine learning approaches to quantify global nutrient legacies and to create a biophysical and policy-based topology of agricultural land systems.
Wetland Connectivity and Ecohydrology
In our wetland work, we are attempting to expand our understanding of how the spatial distribution and connectivity of wetlands in the landscape affect catchment-scale hydrologic and biogeochemical responses. Most available wetland research focuses on the individual wetland scale, while policy questions on the impact of wetland losses are primarily at the landscape scale—in our research we are attempting to fill this gap. Our analysis of Iowa’s Prairie Pothole region in Iowa using remotely sensed data (LIDAR) suggests that human intervention has led to a preferential loss of smaller wetlands, a finding that has tremendous ecological consequences and indicates the need for preferential restoration of smaller wetlands.
Coupled Natural and Human Systems
In this work, we are exploring bi-directional, multi-scale feedbacks between human and water systems, which is a rapidly developing area of research. In an NSF funded-project (Coupled Natural and Human Systems), we have explored the role of small surface storage ponds in buffering agricultural vulnerability created by climatic uncertainties in semi-arid south India. An invited feature article in Environmental Science & Technology (Van Meter et al. 2014) resulted from this work as well as two additional sociohydrology research articles: one on the dynamics of water storage and release from village-scale rainwater harvesting ponds (Van Meter et al., 2016, HESS) and another on quantifying the impacts of rainwater harvesting systems on water security (Bitterman et al., 2016, Applied Geography).
Nutrient Legacies and Time Lags
In this research, we are developing a framework for quantifying nutrient legacies in human-dominated landscapes. We use both process-based and statistical models to better our understanding of how these legacies contribute to time lags between implementation of conservation measures and measurable improvements in water quality. We are currently expanding our ELEMeNT modeling framework to include coupled nitrogen/phosphorus/carbon dynamics and are using machine learning approaches to quantify global nutrient legacies and to create a biophysical and policy-based topology of agricultural land systems.
Wetland Connectivity and Ecohydrology
In our wetland work, we are attempting to expand our understanding of how the spatial distribution and connectivity of wetlands in the landscape affect catchment-scale hydrologic and biogeochemical responses. Most available wetland research focuses on the individual wetland scale, while policy questions on the impact of wetland losses are primarily at the landscape scale—in our research we are attempting to fill this gap. Our analysis of Iowa’s Prairie Pothole region in Iowa using remotely sensed data (LIDAR) suggests that human intervention has led to a preferential loss of smaller wetlands, a finding that has tremendous ecological consequences and indicates the need for preferential restoration of smaller wetlands.
Coupled Natural and Human Systems
In this work, we are exploring bi-directional, multi-scale feedbacks between human and water systems, which is a rapidly developing area of research. In an NSF funded-project (Coupled Natural and Human Systems), we have explored the role of small surface storage ponds in buffering agricultural vulnerability created by climatic uncertainties in semi-arid south India. An invited feature article in Environmental Science & Technology (Van Meter et al. 2014) resulted from this work as well as two additional sociohydrology research articles: one on the dynamics of water storage and release from village-scale rainwater harvesting ponds (Van Meter et al., 2016, HESS) and another on quantifying the impacts of rainwater harvesting systems on water security (Bitterman et al., 2016, Applied Geography).