I am a computational hydrogeologist in MBMG's Ground Water Investigation Program and am interested in applications of hydrogeophysics, a field that incorporates traditional methods in groundwater hydrology with novel geophysical techniques. I integrate hydrogeophysics into my numerical models in order to answer targeted questions about Montana's groundwater systems. The specific methods that I apply to accomplish my research goals include programming to automate data collection and modeling tasks, gravimetry, passive seismic interferometry, and geodetic techniques.

Montana Water Center Graduate Research FellowThesis: Evaluating the Sensitivity of Crustal Deformation to Bedrock Hydrology in a Mountain WatershedEvaluated the sensitivity of Earth's elastic deformation to groundwater hydraulic diffusivity using coupled groundwater and elastic deformation models. Seasonal changes in terrestrial water storage cause deformation to the Earth’s crust and deeper interior that is within the observational capacity of GPS instruments. I coupled finite difference groundwater simulations with geodetic forward models of crustal displacement to investigate the ability of geodetic deformation to constrain bedrock hydrologic properties. I used MODFLOW-2005 to simulate seasonal changes in groundwater flow and storage, and then applied the LoadDef elastic deformation model to forward model surface displacement caused by the change in terrestrial water storage calculated by each groundwater simulation. I performed theoretical sensitivity analyses to groundwater system parameterization by simulating changes in deformation as a result of different subsurface properties for synthetic seasonal recharge. Initial results indicate that crustal displacements are sensitive to perturbations in bedrock hydraulic conductivity, storativity, and thickness. Changes in these parameters affect the minimum and maximum amplitude of peak crustal displacement as well as the timing of when these peaks occur. This method could improve the bulk parameterization of bedrock within mountainous regions with adequate GPS network density and precision at sufficiently large scales. The modeling framework developed during my graduate studies offers a new tool to parameterize deep bedrock for numerical groundwater simulations using geodetic observations, which is challenging in mountainous watersheds where extremely limited groundwater data is available.

Consulted with clients and project managers to identify and calculate physical/legal water availability using MODFLOW, ArcGIS, and a working knowledge of Colorado water rights.

• Analyzed foraminifera in sediment cores to investigate the Arctic climate record• Developed Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to standardize my data across the entire core and apply a series of tests to determine the significance of my results• Created topographic/bathymetric maps with ArcGIS to display the locations and depths of the cores

• Oversaw the isotopic data collection for more than 300 m of ice core taken from the South Pole• Independently implemented solutions to daily problems with the lab’s mass-spectrometer and python code

• Processed Ice Cores taken from the South Pole for distribution to an international cooperative of universities• Worked multilaterally with scientists from around the country to execute this project• -20C working conditions