A UF geology professor’s new grant may put UF in the forefront of hydrology research for years to come.
The National Science Foundation awarded a grant to Thomas Bianchi for research on the planned flow of the Colorado River into Mexico.
The Colorado River is a heavily manipulated river, with many dams and diversions, and overuse of the water upstream has resulted in a dry riverbed in Mexico, Bianchi said.
Beginning Saturday, a controlled flow of water, called a pulse flow, will be released at the Morelos Dam between Baja California and Arizona.
The expected rise in microbial activity due to the pulse flow will release greenhouse gases, providing valuable research that may contribute to similar events in the future, Bianchi said.
However, Bianchi will specifically measure the region’s effects on water chemistry.
The NSF chose to fund this project because of the relevance of the research to both the U.S. and Mexico. Bianchi’s team will be traveling with Mexican scientists to better understand the impact of the event.
The Colorado River Project is timely for Bianchi, who published a book called “Biogeochemical Dynamics at Major River-Coastal Interfaces” last year. He will be the lead principal investigator of the efforts that are funded by the NSF.
“This is just a small grant that we were able to get to be in on the first bit of the sampling, which now gives us an opportunity to take the lead to develop a bigger collaboration between Mexican and U.S. scientists,” he said.
Going into the field is Bianchi’s graduate assistant Rory Kates, a 22-year-old UF history and geology senior.
Kates is flying out Friday to collect water samples with researchers from the University of Arizona. He will wade into the water with bottles for sampling at the site of the release and at six stations across the Mexican border.
“This is really exciting, really new,” he said. “It’s definitely an opportunity to really put UF’s name out there.”
But the importance of this project extends beyond UF, said Ashley Meade, a 19-year-old UF wildlife ecology and conservation freshman. She said conservation of wetlands is significant because they are disappearing.
“The project seems very important and exciting because they will be measuring evidence of an ecosystem being restored,” she said. “It could mean great things for wildlife.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 3/18/2014 under the headline "Professor’s grant may bring UF to water research forefront"]
