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 April 2021, she also holds 4 patents and more than 165 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

Parker's research centers on how diffusion [10] [11] impacts the movement of contaminants in groundwater, with implications for remediation of groundwater contaminants. This research includes investigations into dense non-aqueous phase liquid (abbreviated DNAPL), or liquids that are not miscible with water. She has investigated how contaminants such as tetrachloroethylene can be tracked in groundwater [12] [13] and potentially removed from aquifers. [14] Her research also includes tracking human viruses in groundwater, [15] and the persistence of methane gas in groundwater [16] which would be explosive if people extract groundwater containing methane from the subsurface. [17]

She holds two patents, US 6274048  "System for alleviating DNAPL contamination in groundwater" and US 5641020  "Treatment of contaminated water in clays and the like", related to alleviation of contamination in groundwater.

Selected publications

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquifer</span> Underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials. Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Water from aquifers can be sustainably harvested through the use of qanats. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology. Related terms include aquitard, which is a bed of low permeability along an aquifer, and aquiclude, which is a solid, impermeable area underlying or overlying an aquifer, the pressure of which could lead to the formation of a confined aquifer. The classification of aquifers is as follows: Saturated versus unsaturated; aquifers versus aquitards; confined versus unconfined; isotropic versus anisotropic; porous, karst, or fractured; transboundary aquifer.

<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 freshwater 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.

The Waterloo Moraine is a landform and sediment body that was created as a moraine in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada. It covers a large portion of the cities of Waterloo and Kitchener and the township of Wilmot, and some parts of the townships of Wellesley and North Dumfries. About 90% of the water supply of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo is derived from groundwater of the Waterloo Moraine aquifer system.

A dispersion is a system in which distributed particles of one material are dispersed in a continuous phase of another material. The two phases may be in the same or different states of matter.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Well</span> Excavation or structure to provide access to groundwater

A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn up by a pump, or using containers, such as buckets or large water bags that are raised mechanically or by hand. Water can also be injected back into the aquifer through the well. Wells were first constructed at least eight thousand years ago and historically vary in construction from a simple scoop in the sediment of a dry watercourse to the qanats of Iran, and the stepwells and sakiehs of India. Placing a lining in the well shaft helps create stability, and linings of wood or wickerwork date back at least as far as the Iron Age.

FEHM is a groundwater model that has been developed in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory over the past 30 years. The executable is available free at the FEHM Website. The capabilities of the code have expanded over the years to include multiphase flow of heat and mass with air, water, and CO2, methane hydrate, plus multi-component reactive chemistry and both thermal and mechanical stress. Applications of this code include simulations of: flow and transport in basin scale groundwater systems , migration of environmental isotopes in the vadose zone, geologic carbon sequestration, oil shale extraction, geothermal energy, migration of both nuclear and chemical contaminants, methane hydrate formation, seafloor hydrothermal circulation, and formation of karst. The simulator has been used to generate results for more than 100 peer reviewed publications which can be found at FEHM Publications.

Air sparging, also known as in situ air stripping and in situ volatilization is an in situ remediation technique, used for the treatment of saturated soils and groundwater contaminated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like petroleum hydrocarbons, a widespread problem for the ground water and soil health. Vapor extraction has become a very successful and practical method of VOC remediation. In saturated zone remediation, air sparging refers to the injection a hydrocarbon-free gaseous medium into the ground where contamination has been found. When it comes to situ air sparging it became an intricate phase process that was proven to be successful in Europe since the 1980s. Currently, there have been further developments into bettering the engineering design and process of air sparging.

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.

An aquifer, according to the Oxford dictionary is a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater. Aquifer Susceptibility is the inherent ability of a formation to accept and transmit liquids. Certain areas of the United States are becoming more reliant on groundwater to meet the needs of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-aqueous phase liquid</span>

Non-aqueous phase liquids, or NAPLs, are organic liquid contaminants characterized by their relative immiscibility with water. The most common examples of NAPLs include petroleum products, coal tars, chlorinated solvents, and pesticides, and the strategies employed for their removal from the subsurface environment have expanded since the late-20th century. NAPLs can be released into the environment from a variety of point sources such as improper chemical disposal, leaking underground storage tanks, septic tank effluent, and percolation from spills or landfills. The movement of NAPLs within the subsurface environment is complex and difficult to characterize. Nonetheless, the various parameters that dictate their movement are important to understand in order to determine appropriate remediation strategies. These strategies utilize NAPLs' physical, chemical, and biological properties to minimize their presence in the subsurface.

Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) is the storage and recovery of thermal energy in subsurface aquifers. ATES can heat and cool buildings. Storage and recovery is achieved by extraction and injection of groundwater using wells. Systems commonly operate in seasonally. Groundwater that is extracted in summer cools by transferring heat from the building to the water by means of a heat exchanger. The heated groundwater is reinjected into the aquifer, which stores the heated water. In wintertime, the flow is reversed - heated groundwater is extracted.

Multilevel Groundwater Monitoring Systems, also referred to as Multi-Depth Groundwater Monitoring Systems, Multilevel Systems (MLSs), or Engineered Nested Wells, are engineered technologies installed in single boreholes above and/or below the water table to obtain data from different depth intervals. The technologies may consist of various pipes, liners, access ports, sampling pumps, pressure sensors, and sealing mechanisms that are installed temporarily or permanently in boreholes drilled into unconsolidated sediments or bedrock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noam Weisbrod</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer C. McIntosh</span> American hydrogeologist

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Hendrik Marten Haitjema is a Dutch and American engineer and hydrologist, and professor emeritus at Indiana University. He is recipient of the 2017 Keith A. Anderson Award of the National Ground Water Association. He is author of the book Analytic Element Modeling of Groundwater Flow and the widely used computational groundwater flow modeling system GFLOW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal hydrogeology</span> Branch of hydrogeology

Coastal Hydrogeology is a branch of Hydrogeology that focuses on the movement and the chemical properties of groundwater in coastal areas. Coastal Hydrogeology studies the interaction between fresh groundwater and seawater, including seawater intrusion, sea level induced groundwater level fluctuation, submarine groundwater discharge, human activities and groundwater management in coastal areas.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Canadian Academy of Engineering / L'Académie canadienne du génie" . Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  2. ↑ "Beth Parker" . Retrieved 2023-10-05– via LinkedIn.
  3. ↑ solinst (2010-12-06). "High Resolution Multi-level Monitoring for Bedrock Aquifers". On The Level Blog. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  4. ↑ "Beth Parker". CCA Reports. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  5. 1 2 "Dr. Beth Parker" (PDF). The University Consortium. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-10. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  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.
  8. 1 2 "Parker". Honors Program. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  9. ↑ "About Morwick G360". Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute. 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  10. ↑ Parker, Beth L.; Gillham, Robert W.; Cherry, John A. (September 1994). "Diffusive Disappearance of Immiscible-Phase Organic Liquids in Fractured Geologic Media". Ground Water. 32 (5): 805–820. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.1994.tb00922.x.
  11. ↑ Parker, Beth L.; McWhorter, David B.; Cherry, John A. (1997). "Diffusive Loss of Non-Aqueous Phase Organic Solvents from Idealized Fracture Networks in Geologic Media". Groundwater. 35 (6): 1077–1088. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.1997.tb00180.x. ISSN   1745-6584. S2CID   128703605.
  12. ↑ Hunkeler, D.; Aravena, R.; Parker, B. L.; Cherry, J. A.; Diao, X. (2003-02-01). "Monitoring Oxidation of Chlorinated Ethenes by Permanganate in Groundwater Using Stable Isotopes: Laboratory and Field Studies". Environmental Science & Technology. 37 (4): 798–804. Bibcode:2003EnST...37..798H. doi:10.1021/es020073d. ISSN   0013-936X. PMID   12636282.
  13. ↑ Parker, Beth L.; Cherry, John A.; Chapman, Steven W. (2004-10-01). "Field study of TCE diffusion profiles below DNAPL to assess aquitard integrity". Journal of Contaminant Hydrology. 74 (1–4): 197–230. Bibcode:2004JCHyd..74..197P. doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2004.02.011. ISSN   0169-7722. PMID   15358493.
  14. ↑ Nelson, Matthew D.; Parker, Beth L.; Al, Tom A.; Cherry, John A.; Loomer, Diana (1 March 2001). "Geochemical Reactions Resulting from In Situ Oxidation of PCE-DNAPL by KMnO4 in a Sandy Aquifer". Environmental Science & Technology. 35 (6): 1266–1275. Bibcode:2001EnST...35.1266N. doi:10.1021/es001207v. ISSN   0013-936X. PMID   11347943.
  15. ↑ Borchardt, Mark A.; Bradbury, Kenneth R.; Gotkowitz, Madeline B.; Cherry, John A.; Parker, Beth L. (2007-09-01). "Human Enteric Viruses in Groundwater from a Confined Bedrock Aquifer". Environmental Science & Technology. 41 (18): 6606–6612. Bibcode:2007EnST...41.6606B. doi:10.1021/es071110+. ISSN   0013-936X. PMID   17948815.
  16. ↑ Cahill, Aaron G.; Steelman, Colby M.; Forde, Olenka; Kuloyo, Olukayode; Emil Ruff, S.; Mayer, Bernhard; Ulrich Mayer, K.; Strous, Marc; Cathryn Ryan, M.; Cherry, John A.; Parker, Beth L. (2017). "Mobility and persistence of methane in groundwater in a controlled-release field experiment". Nature Geoscience. 10 (4): 289–294. Bibcode:2017NatGe..10..289C. doi:10.1038/ngeo2919. hdl: 1880/115891 . ISSN   1752-0894.
  17. ↑ "Potentially explosive methane gas mobile in groundwater, poses safety risk: U of G study: Methane that leaks into atmosphere a powerful greenhouse gas". ScienceDaily. April 5, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  18. ↑ "Beth Parker". May 1, 2014. Archived from the original on 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  19. ↑ "John Hem Award for Excellence in Science & Engineering recipients". Default. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  20. ↑ "M. King Hubbert Award recipients". Default. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  21. ↑ "Tage Erlander visiting professorship". www.vr.se. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  22. ↑ "International Association of Hydrogeologists - Canadian National Chapter". www.iahcnc.ca. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  23. ↑ "O.E. Meinzer winners - Hydrogeology Division". community.geosociety.org. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
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