Future of Groundwater

Thursday, September 8, 2016: 4:45 p.m.
Maria Gibson , Water Resources Program, Oregon State University, Eugene, OR
Michael E. Campana, Ph.D. , Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

More than 1.5 billion people rely on groundwater resources worldwide. Water scarcity and difficulty in management is a reality many will face as global population is expected to increase and climate-driven changes intensify demand. As climate is expected to impact groundwater resources, scientific research and advances in technology may provide practical mitigation strategies to offset predictive changes. The goal of this presentation is to provide a glimpse into innovative groundwater developments and its function in a water resource management environment. Cutting-edge research, including the next generation of GRACE: Grace Follow-On Mission, advances in 3-D printing of porous media, Unmanned Aircraft Systems in groundwater quantification, and upcoming trends in model integration will also be presented.

Maria Gibson, Water Resources Program, Oregon State University, Eugene, OR
My research centers on Aquifer Storage and Recovery with the broad goal of understanding potential storage locations on a variety of spatial and temporal scales, especially in mountainous watersheds.


Michael E. Campana, Ph.D., Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Michael E. Campana, Ph.D., is a professor of hydrogeology and water resources management at Oregon State University and former director of its Institute for Water and Watersheds. He formerly directed the Water Resources Program at the University of New Mexico, where he is now emeritus professor of hydrogeology. In addition, Campana was a research hydrologist at the Desert Research Institute and professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Campana is a current board member of the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation, past chair of NGWA’s Scientists and Engineers Division, and past president of the American Water Resources Association. His passion these days is WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) issues in developing regions. To that end, he founded and heads the nonprofit Ann Campana Judge Foundation, which funds and undertakes WaSH projects in Central America, and serves on the board of directors of the Calgary-based nonprofit Hydrogeologists Without Borders. As WaterWired, he blogs and Tweets on water and related issues. He holds a B.S. in geology from the College of William and Mary, as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. in hydrology from the University of Arizona.