Overview of current and past projects
Current project: What makes the Critical Zone resistant and resilient? Using Big Data and field investigations
Funding NSF-EAR: 2020-2025, 3.2M.“Collaborative Research Network Cluster: Using Big Data approaches to assess ecohydrological resilience across scales”.
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Co-PIs and collaborators: Donna Rizzo (UVM, Co-PI), Kristen Underwood (UVM, Co-PI), Byung Lee (UVM, Co-PI), Regina Toolin (UVM, Co-PI), Adrian Harpold (UNR, Co-PI), Gabrielle Boisrame (DRI, Co-PI), Erin Seybold (KSU, Co-PI), Ben Abbott (BYU, Co-PI), Li Li (Penn State, Collaborator), Jon Chorover (UofA, Collaborator), Jamie Shanley (USGS, Collaborator), Scott Hamshaw (UVM, collaborator), Mike Blouin (UVM, collaborator), Leon Walls (UVM, collaborator).
Students: Bren Cable (MS), Niara Hicks (MS), Manya Ruckhaus (MS), Shaurya Swami (PhD), Ijaz Ul Haq (PhD).
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Co-PIs and collaborators: Donna Rizzo (UVM, Co-PI), Kristen Underwood (UVM, Co-PI), Byung Lee (UVM, Co-PI), Regina Toolin (UVM, Co-PI), Adrian Harpold (UNR, Co-PI), Gabrielle Boisrame (DRI, Co-PI), Erin Seybold (KSU, Co-PI), Ben Abbott (BYU, Co-PI), Li Li (Penn State, Collaborator), Jon Chorover (UofA, Collaborator), Jamie Shanley (USGS, Collaborator), Scott Hamshaw (UVM, collaborator), Mike Blouin (UVM, collaborator), Leon Walls (UVM, collaborator).
Students: Bren Cable (MS), Niara Hicks (MS), Manya Ruckhaus (MS), Shaurya Swami (PhD), Ijaz Ul Haq (PhD).
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This project is one of several Critical Zone Network clusters, a multi-million dollar endeavor to investigate the interconnectedness of the Critical Zone in the context of the Anthropocene. We have a separate webpage for this project with more information here. In short our work investigates global scale of disturbance in the Anthropocene to advance network-scale syntheses and integrate across scales. For this we use an iterative “pattern to process” and “process to pattern” approach to investigate how CZ structure controls water, carbon, nutrients, and response to overlapping disturbances in the context of multi-dimensional resilience. We compiled existing ecohydrological data from across the continental U.S. into a multi-dimensional CZ database (CAMELS-Chem), perform advanced statistical analysis with complex-systems tools on big data to identify state changes in ecological function and ecosystem services, refine hypotheses based on these data-driven approaches, and perform in-depth process investigations at three high-vulnerability focal sites in the northeast (Sleeper River Research Watershed) and southwest (Santa Catalina Mountain - CZO and Illilouette Creek Basin). This work has comprehensive outreach and education programming, see the tab "Community and Teacher Education" for details.
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Integration of top-down, and bottom-up investigative approaches (process to pattern and vice versa).
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Current project: Intersections between Water Research, Climate, Racism, and STEM Education.
Funding: GUND 2023-2024, 49K. “Intersections between the climate crises, environmental racism, and STEM education: co-creating culturally relevant teacher education in Jackson, MS.”
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial (UVM), Leon Walls (UVM).
Co-PIs and collaborators: Regina Toolin (UVM), Deidre Wheaton (JSU), Chandar Lewis (JSU), Jacqueline Jackson (JSU), Donna Rizzo (UVM).
Students: Mandy Nix (PhD)
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial (UVM), Leon Walls (UVM).
Co-PIs and collaborators: Regina Toolin (UVM), Deidre Wheaton (JSU), Chandar Lewis (JSU), Jacqueline Jackson (JSU), Donna Rizzo (UVM).
Students: Mandy Nix (PhD)
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This project focuses on the development and implementation of community-based, culturally relevant STEM teacher education within the context of water issues, climate change, and environmental racism. In partnership with faculty from Jackson State University (JSU) in education, social justice, and computer sciences, we work in the context of the Jackson water crisis. Through phases such as concept development, community feedback, program design, and implementation in Jackson, MS school districts, this effort seeks to catalyze a comprehensive examination of the complex intersection of climate change-related crises, environmental racism, and STEM education, while challenging structures of racism and centering Black perspectives. This work has comprehensive outreach and education programming, see the tab "Community and Teacher Education" for details.
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Completed Project: Building Convergence for Equitable Water Solutions
Funding: NSF-2231723 Convergence accelerator 2022-2023, 99K.“Conference: Water for a changing planet: Rethinking land use and water supply in the face of population growth and climate breakdown”.
Lead-PI: Pamela Sullivan
Co-PIs: Julia Perdrial, Holly Barnhard, Steven Wondzell, Adrian Harpold
Lead-PI: Pamela Sullivan
Co-PIs: Julia Perdrial, Holly Barnhard, Steven Wondzell, Adrian Harpold
This convergence accelerator workshop brought together 54 participants from academic institutions, national laboratories, government agencies, industries and non-profit organizations. The workshop attendees discussed extensively the grand challenges and barriers facing water resources that could be addressed in a timeline of roughly 3-4 years. Four tracks were identified as "convergence ready" (see detail here). The findings of this effort were integrated into a track for "Equitable Water Solutions", where NSF invests almost 10 million dollars (see details here).
Completed Project: Stream water dissolved organic carbon, a test case for integrative modelling across scales (see recorded talk here)
Funding: NSF-GG: 2018-2021, 300K.“Collaborative Research: Combining Complex Systems Tools, Process-Based Modelling and Experiments to Bridge Scales in Low Temperature Geochemistry”.
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Collaborators and students: Donna Rizzo (UVM, Co-PI), Li Li (Penn State, Co-PI), Adrian Harpold (UNR, Co-PI), Kristen Underwood (research assistant professor), Thomas Adler (MS student), Caitlin Bristol (MS student).
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Collaborators and students: Donna Rizzo (UVM, Co-PI), Li Li (Penn State, Co-PI), Adrian Harpold (UNR, Co-PI), Kristen Underwood (research assistant professor), Thomas Adler (MS student), Caitlin Bristol (MS student).
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The objective of this research is to combine complex systems modelling and Reactive Transport Modelling (RTM) with select experiments to test hypotheses on the origin of the widespread increased in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) fluxes from forested headwater streams. We use a great variety of data to investigate linkages between observed patterns, internal Critical Zone drivers, external drivers and hypothesized processes. Complex systems tools are used on these combined data sets to better visualize and identify regional scale patterns (>100km), RTM is used on selected catchments to test process-based hypotheses at the catchment scale (km) and experiments complement RTMs to isolate specific processes at the macro to micrometer scale (mm-μm).
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Complex systems tools, Reactive Transport Modelling (RTM) and experiments bride scales in low temperature geochemistry (modified after Bao et al. 2016).
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Completed Project: The movement of nutrients through soils, riparian zones and streams to the Lake
Funding: NSF-EPSCoR: 2016-2021, 20M. VT EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII). “Basin Resilience to Extreme Events (BREE)”.
Lead PIs: Arne Bomblies (UVM, Lead-PI VT EPSCoR), Carol Adair (UVM, ecology team leader, Co-PI), Andrew Schroth (UVM, ecology team leader, Co-PI).
Investigator: Julia Perdrial
Students: Max Landsmann-Gerjoi, Brittany Lancellotti
See resulting products here
Lead PIs: Arne Bomblies (UVM, Lead-PI VT EPSCoR), Carol Adair (UVM, ecology team leader, Co-PI), Andrew Schroth (UVM, ecology team leader, Co-PI).
Investigator: Julia Perdrial
Students: Max Landsmann-Gerjoi, Brittany Lancellotti
See resulting products here
Lake Champlain with the Adirondacks in the background.
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The overall goal of the VT EPSCoR Basin Resilience to Extreme Events (BREE) project is to Study and Promote Resiliency in the Lake Champlain Basin. A newly installed soil sensor network will help us answer the question what type of land covers (forested vs. agricultural) are more resilient to extreme events. Sub surface instrumentation in transects across dry and wet areas are used to test hypotheses around hydrologic connectivity and impacts on downstream water quality and lake algal blooms. Learn more here.
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Completed Project: Acidification, recovery and the effects on soil organic carbon at Sleepers River, VT
Funding: VTSGC Graduate Research Fellowship Competition: 2017/2018. “Soil Aggregates: What role do they play in the generation of dissolved organic carbon?”.
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Collaborators: Jamie Shanley, (USGS, collaborator)
Project contact: Malayika Cincotta, Jesse Armfield
See resulting products here
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Collaborators: Jamie Shanley, (USGS, collaborator)
Project contact: Malayika Cincotta, Jesse Armfield
See resulting products here
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In this combined laboratory and field study to investigate how environmental change (i.e. recovery from acid rain) impacts the stability of soil aggregates and their capacity to sequester carbon (C). We specifically investigate how changes in soil solution chemistry impact the stability of soil aggregates and the capture or release of associated carbon using Sleepers River Watershed as test bed. Sleepers River in Daneville, VT has been heavily impacted by acidification due to wet and dry deposition but is currently recovering from these effects.
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Map of the Sleepers River Watershed (W-9) in Danville, VT (Shanley et al. 2015).
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Completed Project: Weathering in acid impacted environments: the terrestrial and planetary Critical Zone
Funding: VT-NASA EPSCoR Faculty Research Awards: 2017/2018. “Expanding the concept of the Critical Zone from Terrestrial to Planetary Systems: What can we learn about weathering on Mars?”.
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Collaborators: Nicolas Perdrial, (UVM, Co-PI), Liz Rampe (NASA ARES, collaborator).
Project contact: Jesse Armfield.
Lead-PI: Julia Perdrial
Collaborators: Nicolas Perdrial, (UVM, Co-PI), Liz Rampe (NASA ARES, collaborator).
Project contact: Jesse Armfield.
The terrestrial Critical Zone (left) spans from the top of the tree canopy to the actively cycled ground water (Chorover et al. 2007). The martian CZ (right) exhibits similar features, including the presence of an atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere but lacks vegetative cover and its extent is presently undefined.
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In this study we contrast weathering in acid impacted terrestrial systems in the NE and weathering on Mars. The Sleepers River watershed in VT is our test bed for regolith weathering on Earth. The pilot study on martian weathering generates preliminary data due to human presence. Using the concept of the terrestrial Critical Zone, we investigate planetary drivers for weathering on Mars and design analogue experiments that capture conditions on Mars more realistically. Using column experiments, we simulate how atmosphere, aqueous solutions and martian regolith interact during stationary conditions (constant temperature and continuous flow) and during freeze and thaw events. The composition of solution and regolith before and during each experiment is characterized and reactive transport modelling (RTM) is used to assess martian regolith weathering dynamics and rates.
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