Kamini Singha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47) |
| Alma mater | University of Connecticut (1999) Stanford University (2005) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Hydrogeology |
| Institutions | Colorado School of Mines |
| Website | https://people.mines.edu/ksingha/ |
Kamini Singha (born 1977) is a professor in the department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, where she works on questions related to hydrogeology.
Singha was born in New York. Her father was a student at Cornell University, and her mother was a travel agent. The family moved to West Virginia soon after Singha's birth, and she spent most of her early childhood there. When she was 12, the family relocated to Connecticut for her father's work. She became interested in geoscience in her senior year of high school, when a physics teacher and a family friend encouraged her to pursue a degree in geophysics. Singha attended the University of Connecticut and graduated with honors in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in geophysics. [1] She went on to earn her PhD in hydrogeology from Stanford University in 2005. [2] For her dissertation, she researched inexpensive methods of observing and predicting the movement of groundwater contaminants. [3]
From 1997 to 2000, Singha worked at the United States Geological Survey Branch of Geophysics. [4] After graduating from Stanford University, she became an assistant and then associate professor in the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University from 2005 to 2012. [5] During this time, Singha also served as the Chair of the American Geophysical Union Hydrogeophysics Technical Committee from 2009 to 2012. [1] In 2012, Singha began as an associate professor of Geology and Geological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Additionally, she served as the associate director of the Hydrologic Science and Engineering Program from 2014 to 2016 [6] and has served as the associate dean of Earth and Society Programs since 2020. Singha is known for her work in hydrogeology, specifically for her research developing methods to quantifying processes controlling subsurface contaminant transport. Her other research foci include examining groundwater-surface water exchange and how water infiltrates into the vadose zone or through fractures in the earth.
Singha has contributed widely to the field of hydrogeology through research that uses geophysical imaging to determine how water move through the subsurface. [7] Her work has explored the use of electrical resistivity tomography to observe the movement of a saline tracer between four wells [8] and how working at the interface of geophysics and hydrology can push our knowledge of subsurface processes across multiple scales. [9] She has received funding from the NSF for several of her research projects that focus on critical zone processes, including: addressing the knowledge gap on how water stored in the subsurface influences the balance between evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge; [10] examining how river ecosystems respond to logjam disturbances, specifically in terms of how groundwater and surface water exchange and, thus, how water quality is affected; [11] and quantifying the role of bedrock in controlling the critical zone processes. [12] Her most cited publications are as follows:
Singha also pursues a number of community outreach initiatives. Since 2014, Singha worked as a research mentor at Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students (RESESS), an organization working to provide undergraduate students research opportunities and support, specifically students from underrepresented groups in the geosciences. [16] [17] She also started a program called Mining for Talent at Colorado School of Mines. [18] The program, funded by the National Science Foundation, provides high school students from Alameda International Junior/Senior High School the opportunity to learn more about geoscience and visit a college campus. [18]
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.
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.
The Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin unites the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences with two research units, the Institute for Geophysics and the Bureau of Economic Geology.
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to hydrology:
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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.
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Holly Michael is an American hydrogeologist and Associate Professor of geology at the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.
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Mary Catherine Hill is an American hydrologist, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the winner of the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize and of the Dooge Medal of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, a Darcy Lecturer for the National Ground Water Association, and Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America. After working for 33 years at the United States Geological Survey, she became a professor of geology at the University of Kansas.
Susan Sharpless Hubbard is an American hydrologist and geophysicist, and Hubbard is the Deputy for Science and Technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2020 for contributions to hydrogeophysics, biogeophysics, and the geophysics of permafrost.
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