Beth L. Parker

Last updated
Beth L. Parker
NationalityCanadian
Alma materAllegheny College, Duke University, University of Waterloo
AwardsAmerican Geophysical Union and Canadian Academy of Engineering Fellow
Scientific career
FieldsHydrogeology
InstitutionsUniversity of Guelph, Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute, The University Consortium
Thesis Effects of molecular diffusion on the persistence of dense, immiscible phase organic liquids in fractured porous geologic media  (1996)

Beth L. Parker is a hydrogeologist and professor at the University of Guelph who has made exceptional contributions to the science and practice of Contaminant Hydrogeology and the protection of groundwater from contamination, that have been adopted internationally to protect water supplies in Guelph and many other communities.

Contents

She has pioneered novel downhole borehole devices and procedures used for monitoring bedrock aquifers at complex contamination sites worldwide. As of March 2024, she also holds 3 patents and more than 180 refereed papers, [1] is the most cited Canadian under the age of 65 [2] for papers concerning groundwater contamination, and is also the director/founder of Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute located at the University of Guelph and the associate director of The University Consortium.

Education and career

Parker has an undergraduate degree in from Allegheny College in environmental science and economics, a masters degree from Duke University [3] in environmental engineering. [4] Parker began her career working in New York on industrial contaminants in groundwater, particularly in glacial and bedrock sediments. [5] She earned her Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Waterloo in hydrogeology where she worked on organic liquids found in porous rocks. [6] Following her Ph.D. she remained at the University of Waterloo as a research professor [5] until she joined the faculty at the University of Guelph in 2004. [7]

In 2019 Parker was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union who cited her "for fundamental advancement in characterizing contaminant mobility in fractured sedimentary rocks". [8]

Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute

Parker is the director and founder of the Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute in which she works alongside John A. Cherry in leading a globally involved field-focused research institute with the mission to provide new technologies to further protect underground water supplies. According to Morwick G360, groundwater is the world's most extracted raw material, with one-third of the world's population depending on it for drinking water. Globally, it represents a $400 billion dollar industry as the World's third largest sector, following behind electricity and oil.

Morwick G360's research focuses in three main areas: aged contaminated industrial sites; groundwater resource protection for drinking water; and preventing potential impacts to surface water from upstream unconventional oil and gas development.

The research institute is funded on average of 5 million dollars per year with contributions from governments, multi-national corporations, and big industry members. Morwick G360 is managed by 17 principal investigators (consisting of professors from the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo) as well as more than 150 graduate students. [9]

Research

Beth L. Parker's research center, the Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute, [10] was Established in 2007. Stemming from her work at the University of Guelph, [11] the researchers at her institute were committed to researching and improving groundwater science, and technology. The research institute mainly researched diffusion [12] and the adverse impacts of the movement of contaminants in groundwater, with implications for the remediation of groundwater contaminants. This research includes investigations into dense non-aqueous phase liquids (abbreviated DNAPL), or liquids not miscible with water. She has investigated how contaminants such as tetrachloroethylene can be tracked in groundwater and how they can potentially be removed from aquifers. [13] Her research also includes tracking human viruses in groundwater, and the persistence of methane gas in groundwater which would be explosive if people extract groundwater containing methane from the subsurface.

Innovation and pattents

Dr. Parker currently holds three active patents as of March 2024, all related to groundwater remediation technologies, emphasizing her contributions to innovative solutions for environmental issues.

Her patented technologies have been widely incorporated through environmental engineering projects regarding municipal water management projects.

Professional affiliations

Dr. Parker is a part of many different professional organizations, all revolving around modernizing and advancing technology and research within the scope of hydrogeology [14] and environmental engineering. More specifically, she has served on many different panels and committees throughout her entire career including the Council of Canadian Academies [15] where she has worked, provided insight, and expert advice on environmental and groundwater issues.

Collaborative work

Throughout her career, Dr. Beth L. Parker has worked alongside and a part of environmental organizations, industry leaders, and municipalities to tackle environmental and groundwater containment issues. Most notably, her work with the City of Guelph, WSP, and Matrix Solutions Inc. [16] has provided innovative and scientific approaches to safeguarding water supplies within different municipalities, more specifically that of the City of Guelph.

Educational contributions

Dr. Parker is not only a researcher but an educator and mentor at the University of Guelph. She has guided, influenced, and supervised the creation of theses regarding hydrogeology, groundwater treatment, and containment of unsafe bodies of water.

Global impact

Beth L. Parker’s research and scientific scope extends far beyond the realm of Canada, as she addresses global water security and containment issues. Through her collaboration with over 20 institutions and 11 countries, she has had a significan impact on international groundwater science.

Publications

Parker has made significant contributions to the world of hydrogeology in the form of her publications, of which there are over 180 different peer reviewed papers as of March 2024. These stats make her the “most-cited Canadian under the age of 65 for papers in this field” [17] as per the Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute’s biography regarding Dr. Beth L. Parker. As of November 2024, her publications have been cited a total of 8015 times. [18]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrology</span> Science of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth

Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydrologist. Hydrologists are scientists studying earth or environmental science, civil or environmental engineering, and physical geography. Using various analytical methods and scientific techniques, they collect and analyze data to help solve water related problems such as environmental preservation, natural disasters, and water management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groundwater</span> Water located beneath the ground surface

Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is recharged from the surface; it may discharge from the surface naturally at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands. Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells. The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, also called groundwater hydrology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrogeology</span> Study of the distribution and movement of groundwater

Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust. The terms groundwater hydrology, geohydrology, and hydrogeology are often used interchangeably, though hydrogeology is the most commonly used.

Blackwater in a sanitation context denotes wastewater from toilets which likely contains pathogens that may spread by the fecal–oral route. Blackwater can contain feces, urine, water and toilet paper from flush toilets. Blackwater is distinguished from greywater, which comes from sinks, baths, washing machines, and other household appliances apart from toilets. Greywater results from washing food, clothing, dishes, as well as from showering or bathing.

A dense non-aqueous phase liquid or DNAPL is a denser-than-water NAPL, i.e. a liquid that is both denser than water and is immiscible in or does not dissolve in water.

Groundwater remediation is the process that is used to treat polluted groundwater by removing the pollutants or converting them into harmless products. Groundwater is water present below the ground surface that saturates the pore space in the subsurface. Globally, between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of the world's drinking water is drawn from boreholes and dug wells. Groundwater is also used by farmers to irrigate crops and by industries to produce everyday goods. Most groundwater is clean, but groundwater can become polluted, or contaminated as a result of human activities or as a result of natural conditions.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to hydrology:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Abriola</span> American environmental/civil engineer

Linda Marie Abriola is an American environmental and civil engineer who specializes in the study of organic chemical liquid contaminants in porous media. She is currently the Joan Wernig and E. Paul Sorensen Professor of Engineering at the Brown University School of Engineering.

Hydrogeophysics is a cross-disciplinary area of research that uses geophysics to determine parameters and monitor processes for hydrological studies of matters such as water resources, contamination, and ecological studies. The field uses knowledge and researchers from geology, hydrology, physics, geophysics, engineering, statistics, and rock physics. It uses geophysics to provide quantitative information about hydrogeological parameters, using minimally invasive methods. Hydrogeophysics differs from geophysics in its specific uses and methods. Although geophysical knowledge and methods have existed and grown over the last half century for applications in mining and petroleum industries, hydrogeological study sites have different subsurface conditions than those industries. Thus, the geophysical methods for mapping subsurface properties combine with hydrogeology to use proper, accurate methods to map shallow hydrological study sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groundwater pollution</span> Ground released seep into groundwater

Groundwater pollution occurs when pollutants are released to the ground and make their way into groundwater. This type of water pollution can also occur naturally due to the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent, contaminant, or impurity in the groundwater, in which case it is more likely referred to as contamination rather than pollution. Groundwater pollution can occur from on-site sanitation systems, landfill leachate, effluent from wastewater treatment plants, leaking sewers, petrol filling stations, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) or from over application of fertilizers in agriculture. Pollution can also occur from naturally occurring contaminants, such as arsenic or fluoride. Using polluted groundwater causes hazards to public health through poisoning or the spread of disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-aqueous phase liquid</span> Liquid solution contaminants that do not dissolve in or easily mix with water

Non-aqueous phase liquids, or NAPLs, are organic liquid contaminants characterized by their relative immiscibility with water. Common examples of NAPLs are petroleum products, coal tars, chlorinated solvents, and pesticides. Strategies employed for their removal from the subsurface environment have expanded since the late-20th century.

Lynn Walter Gelhar is an American civil engineer focusing in hydrology and is currently Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is recognized for pioneering research in stochastic subsurface hydrology, has leading research in the area of field-scale contaminant transport experiments, and has extensive experience on the hydrologic aspects of nuclear waste disposal.

Jean Marie Bahr is a hydrogeologist who examines how the physical and chemical composition of groundwater and how that controls the mass transportation of groundwater. She currently is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison in the department of geosciences.

Shirley Jean Dreiss (1949–1993) was an American scientist working in the fields of hydrology and hydrogeology. After gaining her PhD from Stanford University, she joined the faculty of the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she became Professor and Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences. She made important contributions to the understanding of water flow through karst aquifers and fluid flow in subduction zones. At the time of her early death in a car accident, she was studying the groundwater system of Mono Lake in California. She was awarded the Birdsall Distinguished Lectureship from the Geological Society of America, which was renamed the Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lectureship after her death.

Holly Michael is an American hydrogeologist and Associate Professor of geology at the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audrey H. Sawyer</span> American hydrogeologist researcher

Audrey Hucks Sawyer is an American hydrogeologist and Assistant Professor of Earth Science at Ohio State University. Her work has focused on quantifying the role of groundwater - surface water interactions in transporting nutrients, contaminants, and heat in rivers and coastal settings. Sawyer has won multiple awards, including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2018 and the Kohout Early Career Award in 2016.

Bridget R. Scanlon is an Irish and American hydrogeologist known for her work on groundwater depletion and groundwater recharging, and of the effects of climate change and land usage patterns on groundwater. She is a senior research scientist in the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is head of the Sustainable Water Resources Program. Her research has included the use of GRACE satellite data to compare drought conditions in Texas and California.

Donald Ira Siegel is the emeritus Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor in the department of Earth Science at Syracuse University. He served as the president of the Geological Society of America from July 2019 until June 2020. Siegel is known for his work in wetland geochemistry and hydrogeology.

Karen H. Johannesson is an American geochemist and professor in the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Intercampus Marine Sciences Graduate Program of the University of Massachusetts System. She teaches geochemistry and has expertise in environmental geochemistry, biogeochemistry, trace element speciation, geochemical modeling, chemical hydrogeology, reaction path and reactive transport modeling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman Bouwer</span> Dutch-born American hydrological scientist

Herman Bouwer (1927–2013) was a hydrological scientist who worked in groundwater hydrology and water resources management, with a specialization in the area of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). He was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States in 1952 to study for his PhD at Cornell University. He went on to work at the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, serving as director from 1972 to 1990. His research efforts on characterizing and modeling the movement of water and pollutants in the vadose zone and groundwater resulted in field and analytical methods that are used in the groundwater sciences. He authored or co-authored over 300 publications and wrote the textbook Groundwater Hydrology.

References

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  3. solinst (2010-12-06). "High Resolution Multi-level Monitoring for Bedrock Aquifers". On The Level Blog. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
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  6. Parker, Beth (1996). Effects of molecular diffusion on the persistence of dense, immiscible phase organic liquids in fractured porous geologic media (Thesis).
  7. "AGU - American Geophysical Union". www.agu.org. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
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