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MEET A LEAF: MEGAN KLAAR

8/31/2020

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Dr. Megan Klaar is a University Academic Fellow at  the University of Leeds, U.K. Twitter: @Ragsie123
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What does ecohydrology mean to you? 
Ecohydrology (or hydroecology as we say in the UK!) represents only one of the linkages in the wider field of eco-hydromorphology which takes a more integrated approach to understanding the interrelations between ecology and physical habitat (hydrology-geomorphology).
(see the paper by Vaughan et al. for a nice outline of the discipline https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aqc.895 )

 
What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
My undergraduate degree is in Ecology & Conservation from Sussex University, England.  I have a MSc in Biology of Water Resource Management from Napier University, Scotland.  My PhD was in hydrology-geomorphology-ecology linkages in newly formed rivers following deglaciation in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, undertaken at the University of Birmingham, England.
 
How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
I worked as an ecologist for nearly 10 years after my MSc degree, including a stint as a Fisheries Biologist for England’s environmental regulator (Environment Agency) and as an ecologist for a private water company before leaving industry for academia.  While the lure of a non 9 to 5 job was part of the appeal for this change, I was also frustrated by the lack of scientific understanding of hydrology-ecology interactions.   In particular, the scarcity of scientific evidence relating to flow- ecology relationships was preventing sound water resource management policies from being developed to the detriment of river ecosystems.  At the time, ecohydrology was a relatively new term, but I was immediately drawn to the research area as I could see how the discipline could provide the knowledge we need to develop evidence-led environmental policies.
 
What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
I continue to be drawn to the outer fringes of research, where disciplines interact.  I’m increasingly realizing the importance of ecosystem integrity in providing ‘nature based solutions’ to help tackle the myriad of socio-environmental challenges (flood risk, climate change, water security, food production) we are facing.  Ecohydrology is once again only one linkage in a wider water-food-energy nexus, and I would love to see a stronger ecohydrological presence in these discussions.
 
Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
I always return to LeRoy Poff et al.’s 1997 paper on the natural flow regime as it so eloquently highlights how a river’s flow regime is of central importance to determining ecological integrity.
(https://www.jstor.org/stable/1313099?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents). 

 
What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I love making things (sewing, greenwood furniture, culinary experiments), playing the violin and softball and exploring new places
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MEET A LEAF: Lu Zhang

8/24/2020

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Dr. Lu Zhang is a Senior Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO Land and Water based in Canberra, Australia.
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
I started my career in evaporation or perhaps I should say evapotranspiration, which is a key element of ecohydrology. For me, ecohydrology is a natural and logical way of looking at our catchments and it calls for integration from both physical hydrology and ecology communities. Of course, it is not simply “eco” + “hydro”. Coming from a physical hydrology background, it also means that I need to learn from our ecology colleagues regarding both fundamental ecological principles and the way they approach their problems. The challenge for ecohydrologists is to come up with a new methodology that enables us to understand the interactions and feedbacks among the hydrological and ecological processes in a truly integrated way.

What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
My undergraduate degree (B.Sc.) is in physical geography from the Xinjiang University in China. My Master of Science (M.Sc.) and PhD are both in hydrology from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium.

How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
When I started my post-doc research many years ago, our group was trying to understand how vegetation cover change (e.g. tress clearing or plantation forestry) could affect groundwater recharge, water yield and salinity in Australian landscapes. Many people had the idea that planting trees could increase rainfall or somehow bring higher water yields. The idea that more trees ensured a wetter environment seemed like no more than simple common sense. At the time, no suitable ecohydrological models were available that could help us to answer these questions. We started to build our first ecohydrological model WAVES (https://research.csiro.au/software/waves/) which integrates energy, water, carbon and solute balances. This was my first attempt at doing research on ecohydrology and it significantly broaden my knowledge base. My research on ecohydrology was motivated by solving real problems of major practical and environmental significance for Australian catchments.

What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
Wow, this is a tough question and my view would be most likely biased. I think one important emerging area of ecohydrology is the coupling of carbon and water at a range of spatial and temporal scales, as this will enable us to understand and explain the patterns of ecohydrological processes and their dependence on hydrologic regimes. More specifically, for example, can we come up with a framework that can adequately simulate both carbon and water fluxes in a consistent fashion? Such a model would require identification of the “weakest link” in our understanding and the balance of process complexity and data availability.  We need to take a phenomenological approach to this problem by examining available data over a range of scales to provide pertinent information on the coupled carbon-water relationships. This is a scientifically exciting field of research and it also has policy and management implications for how we manage our catchments under future climate change.

Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
If I had to name only one ecohydrology paper, then I would go with Newman et al. (2006) “Ecohydrology of water-limited environment: A scientific vision”. In this paper, the authors identified some key challenges for ecohydrology in dry environment and argued that we need to foster integrated interdisciplinary approaches to ecohydrology problems, a view I totally echo.
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What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I love cycling, and I mountain bike with my daughter over the weekends- Canberra has pretty good tracks for mountain biking! When I am not working on ecohydrology, I like to listen to classical music and my favorite composers include Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvořák. I also love cooking and travelling.
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MEET A LEAF: Elana Chan

8/17/2020

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Elana Chan is an undergraduate student in the School of Engineering at Tufts University. She will be graduating in May 2021.  
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
To me, ecohydrology means using native plant species to manage water resources and improve environmental health. Water is essential to ecosystems, and ecohydrology aims to reintroduce ecosystem services in heavily built environments to restore natural hydrology and biogeochemical cycling. Ecohydrology is a truly interdisciplinary field that links engineering, environmental science, and computer-based modeling.

What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
I am currently double majoring in environmental engineering and community health at Tufts. I plan to pursue graduate study in civil and environmental engineering with a focus on urban flood management!

How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
The Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN) Undergraduate Research Program provided me with an incredible opportunity to work in ecohydrology the summer after my sophomore year. While in Detroit, Michigan, I modeled the storage of stormwater in a retrofitted bioswale and tracked image-derived greenness for use as a potential near-remote sensing tool. Green infrastructure interests me because it is a low-impact approach that simultaneously provides urban flood control and numerous other co-benefits to improve environmental health in a city. 

What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
As the world becomes more urbanized, urban ecohydrology is an especially important area of ecohydrology. Greenspace is limited in cities, so urban ecohydrology is needed to better understand the urban water cycle and how cities can mimic ecosystems to better manage water resources.

Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
While working with the Papuga Lab in Detroit last summer, we read this paper (Meerow and Newell 2017) about green infrastructure spatial planning in Detroit. This paper is one of many that informed me about how the history of Detroit makes green infrastructure a favorable revitalization strategy. I really liked how this paper, in particular, focused on the co-benefits of green infrastructure in addition to its stormwater management services. Additionally, I enjoy working with spatial data, so I like that this paper conducted a spatial analysis.

What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I began running in college, and I’m always discovering new routes in the Somerville/Cambridge area. I’m also always eager to travel—I love exploring new places or trying new foods. I especially enjoy niche tours. The Block Island Offshore Wind Farm (Rhode Island) and Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant (Boston) are among my favorite tours. And like many LEAFs, I love a good hike!
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MEET A LEAF: Andrew Guswa

8/9/2020

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Dr. Andrew Guswa is Professor and Director of the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College.  Twitter: @AndrewGuswa
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
For me, ecohydrology is a way to bring together my professional expertise (engineering, math and modeling) and my personal interests and values (curiosity, nature and the outdoors).  In particular, I find ecohydrology fascinating because the laws of physics that govern water movement seem so simple, and, yet, the diversity of landscapes and vegetation leads to complexity and behaviors that are difficult to predict.  Understanding the interactions of water and ecosystems is important for our earth and our societies, and I am grateful to be able to apply my skills to something I care about.

What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in? 
BSE in Civil Engineering and Operations Research from Princeton University, where my undergraduate thesis was on modeling multi-phase flow in porous media.
MSCE and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, where my dissertation was on upscaling the effects of geologic heterogeneity on solute transport.


How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
After completing my Ph.D., I pursued a post-doc at Princeton University with Mike Celia and Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbé.  During that time, I shifted my work from groundwater and contaminant transport to ecohydrology, inspired by Ignacio’s 2000 paper in WRR.

What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
So many!  I am currently interested in questions related to ecosystem services and nature-based solutions.  I value landscapes and ecosystems in-and-of themselves, and I also think it is important for us to be able to quantify their role in providing infrastructure functions to our societies.  In addition, recent advances in sensor technologies and data science provide new ways of asking and answering ecohydrologic questions.  More details on these in our recent paper in Ecohydrology (Guswa et al., 2020).

Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
The paper by Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbé in WRR in 2000 is what introduced me to ecohydrology, so that will always be a favorite of mine.  Additionally, I really enjoy a 2002 paper by John Harte in Physics Today, “Toward a synthesis of the Newtonian and Darwinian worldviews.”  For me, that paper defines much of what is exciting about ecohydrology.

What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
I love teaching and engaging with our students across a range of engineering classes – from introductory design to fluid mechanics to mass and heat transfer.  Outside of work, my family and I like to spend time outdoors: Hiking, biking (mountain and road), cross-country skiing, paddling.  Also, during the pandemic, I have started learning piano.
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MEET A LEAF: Paul Stoy

8/3/2020

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Dr. Paul Stoy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin.  Twitter: @PaulStoy
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What does ecohydrology mean to you?
I’m an Ecologist so it means don’t forget about the water! 

What are your undergraduate and graduate degrees in?
Zoology and Botany (BA, University of Wisconsin) Ecology (PhD, Duke University)

How did you arrive at working in/thinking about ecohydrology?
Working with Gaby Katul at Duke and studying the coupled ecosystem carbon and water cycles. Taking classes from Amilcare Porporato certainly helped.

What do you see as an important emerging area of ecohydrology?
Surface-atmosphere feedbacks. Ecosystems – and their hydrology – impact the atmospheric boundary layer and precipitation events.

Do you have a favorite ecohydrology paper?  Describe/explain.
Recently I’ve enjoyed ‘Correlation-based flux partitioning of water vapor and carbon dioxide fluxes: Method simplification and estimation of canopy water use efficiency’ by Scanlon, Schmidt, and Skaggs (2019, DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107732). In it, they extend the flux variance similarity (FVS) approach for estimating transpiration and evaporation from eddy covariance measurements to directly calculate water use efficiency, which previously had been a major uncertainty of FVS. This paper helps us understand how ecosystems partition water into transpiration (probably more accurately called ‘evaporation from stomata’) and evaporation from non-stomatal surfaces. These evaporative fluxes respond differently to changes in climate and land use and are critical to understand for a complete understanding of the water cycle. 

What do you do for fun (apart from ecohydrology)?
When I’m not a short-order cook for our daughters, I like to go hiking and swimming with the family and I love to bike and ski. My wife, Dr. Amy Trowbridge, has gotten me more and more into biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) fluxes and I’m excited to foreshadow that our next paper will demonstrate that vapor pressure deficit, critical for plant canopy conductance, is also important for BVOC flux. 
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