Subsurface Hydrophysics Lab

The Subsurface Hydrophysics Group is focused on gaining a fundamental mechanistic understanding of fluid, solute, and colloid transport processes in subsurface environments. Our approach often leverages experimental observations and in situ imaging—such as X-ray computed tomography, positron emission tomography, or optical imaging—combined with field observations and analytical, numerical, and data science methods to describe transport processes in complex geologic and environmental systems across temporal and spatial scales. Due to the fundamental nature of this approach, and the ubiquity of fluid transport in porous media, this work has important applications across a range of environmental and geological processes including contaminant migration in the vadose zone, solute transport in fractured aquifers, heat recovery in geothermal energy systems, bacteria transport in the subsurface, and carbon dioxide transport and immobilization in geologic carbon storage projects.

Our research group is recruiting new M.S. and Ph.D. students for Fall 2027! We have several funded projects available, including an NSF-funded project on fluid flow in fractures at both the laboratory and field scales. This position comes with multi-year research assistantship funding, providing strong support for graduate study and research.