People

I moved to the United States from the Philippines to pursue graduate studies and to expand my horizon. As a college student, I loved every facet of the geosciences and my passion for it grew with my deepening appreciation for nature, increasing awareness of environmental issues, and thirst for exploration. For my undergraduate capstone project, I mapped and studied ophiolites and their capping sedimentary sequence in the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines. For my master’s thesis, I studied how the hydraulic properties of the streambed of a small creek in rural Nebraska affected surface water-groundwater interactions and streamflow depletion during groundwater extraction. My PhD dissertation primarily used computational simulations to investigate the mechanics of flow and transport through the terrestrial-aquatic interface referred to as hyporheic zones. As a graduate student, I taught introductory geology labs, an upper-level structural geology lab, and highly specialized hydrology classes including assisting with mathematical modeling exercises in graduate classes. I decided to specialize in hydrology because it simultaneously satisfied my curiosity and my yearning to do research that matters directly for people, particularly those with less access to life-sustaining water. I had also gotten enthralled by caves and karst landscapes and watersports near the end of college. Rocks + water + society = hydrogeology. It was a natural choice, and I have not looked back since.

My wife and I started raising a family early. Our son was born right after we finished our MS studies (two weeks after my wife defended her thesis). Five years later as a newly minted PhD and professor, our daughter was born. Time outside of work is mostly spent with the family. Whenever I can, I try to enjoy the rolling hills of Austin on my road or mountain bike or on hikes. I also give my mind a break from science and work through cooking. I have picked up scuba diving again and started applying my underwater skills in the study of coastal groundwater discharge and its connections with coastal ecology and biogeochemistry.

My goal is to train and uplift future leaders in hydrology and to answer the many open basic and applied scientific questions as long and as much as I can. Members of our team strive to push their personal boundaries and of hydrologic knowledge.

Cansu Demir

Tyson McKinney

Neelarun Mukherjee

Water hidden beneath the Earth’s surface comprises around 31% of the planet’s freshwater.  My primary research interest lies in modeling transport and flows in the subsurface. My goal is to address the growing drinking water crisis due to groundwater contamination around the world by developing robust models to explain complex transport phenomena in the subsurface, primarily in the vadose and the critical zones considering the effects of increasing human interference is one of my broad research interests. I am currently focused on the complex transport processes that take place in the thawing Arctic permafrost due to global warming and how they affect the overall water cycle in the Arctic region. Not only is this important for the water cycle, the Arctic permafrost stores a huge amount of greenhouse gases like CH4, CO2, NOx which will get released as the Earth warms up and thus, will affect the global climate. I am interested in computational modeling and understanding the complex subsurface transport physics taking place in the dynamic Arctic subsurface. Other than research, I  am interested in street photography and Formula1. See Neelarun’s website

William Nguyen

My research interests converge on questions about groundwater-surface water interactions, nutrient cycling, and contaminant fate and transport across the land-ocean continuum. I am currently developing reactive flow and transport models on the formation of iron-oxide and permeable natural reactive barriers (PNRB) and their dynamic interactions with arsenic and other bioreactive elements along the Meghna River in Bangladesh. The insight from these simulations will help in the protection and management of drinking water supplies in the region and in other similar places. See Will’s website

Cameron deFabry

I am interested in near surface geophysics and its application to water and engineering problems of all kinds. For engineers to make intelligent decisions on problems such as water use or dam construction, precise and accurate models of the subsurface must be created. Currently I’m working on the application of machine learning techniques to geophysical imaging problems in an attempt to create models with higher signal to noise ratios. Additionally, I’m working on mapping a water table with a ground penetrating radar so as to create flow models with dense and precise measurements thereby improving upon previous models created by interpolating water depth measurements from nearby observation wells.

Yue Wu

Sophy is currently working toward a Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2017, she has been a Research Assistant with the radar interferometry group led by Prof. Ann Chen. Her current research interests include monitoring hydrological characteristics in permafrost regions using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data. See Yue’s LinkedIn website

Ebony Williams

After spending some time using remote sensing techniques to provide research that helped local and federal governments make decisions regarding hydrologic environmental issues, I knew I wanted to pursue a Master’s in Hydrology. I am currently interested in applying remote sensing techniques to study groundwater flow and contaminant transport processes. Aside from research I find all things space related really cool, so I enjoy watching documentaries or reading books about black holes, exoplanets, star formation, etc. I am a “foodie” so venturing out to new restaurants or food trucks is a joy of mine. See Ebony’s LinkedIn website

Austin Luu

Throughout my life, science and math have always been my strong suit, and going into university I have a greater appreciation towards the environment and the problems that are affecting it. Now that I am older and near the end of my college journey, I can see the importance that water has on humans and the environment alike from changing underground water/soil systems to clean water scarcity. I am currently working on studying flood water conditions of Waller Creek (Austin TX) through the use and deployment of YSI Exo3 and pCO2 sensors over the course of floods that occur this spring and summer. I hope to help understand the factors that floods affect the most and then use that information in other river or creek systems. In my free time, I like to skateboard, play online video games, play tennis, and work out!

Amber Nguyen

Ever since I was little, I loved the environment and outdoors. Now understanding the importance of water on our lives and planet, I decided I wanted to investigate a field related to water systems. With what I learn in my studies, I strive to help mitigate arising environmental issues. Currently, I am researching the connection between submarine groundwater discharge, coral reefs and volcanic activity through analysis of spatial data. In my free time, I enjoy skateboarding, indoor gardening, art and making music.

Jacob Mehr

As the environmental impacts of the oil and gas industry become more severe, an increased efficiency of well sites is needed to reduce the number of wells scattered across a reservoir. Because of this, I am currently pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering at UT with a focus in reservoir engineering and big data analytics. With this I plan to create more efficient and accurate models of reservoirs which involves a deep understanding of the surrounding groundwater. Being an undergraduate at UT as well as a technical scuba diver, I have been able to assist Dr. Cardenas and his research team in their water quality monitoring of the lower Colorado River. These research dives allow me to gain immense field work experience with our local hydrology and increase my knowledge of the surrounding groundwater and geology. For fun I enjoy exploring and photographing the underwater world preferably in flooded karst environments or our local Texas lakes. See Jacob’s LinkedIn Profile