Water
Water systems focus
CERCA's water research focuses on overcoming climate change challenges that effect our water supplies, including sea level rise, water quantity and quality, and agriculture.
A rapidly changing climate with more frequent and sever extreme events is threatening coastal and inland communities, access to safe and clean freshwater resources, and future food security.
CERCA’s water focus uses convergent trans-disciplinary research teams and complex systems analysis to predict climate extremes, resource availability, and human behaviors under deep uncertainty. Based on these predictions, we co-create novel modeling tools, datasets, policies, and technologies that help communities equitably adapt to this new reality by making their water and food infrastructure more resilient.
Example projects
From glaciers to the Gulf
This research refines projections of sea level rise in the Gulf of Mexico through improved glacial projections to enable adaptive planning in coastal communities. Through stakeholder engagement, we assess community adaptive capacity, risk tolerances, and preferred adaptation strategies to help communities equitably and effectively prepare for and mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and coastal flooding.
Faculty advisor: David Rounce
Nanobiotechnology for climate-resilient and sustainable crop agriculture
Unpredictable weather patterns and extreme temperature events threaten crop production and global food security. We leverage the unique physicochemical properties of natural and engineered nanomaterials to enhance plant climate stress tolerance and provide precise nutrient delivery, making crops more resilient and agricultural practices more sustainable.
Faculty advisor: Greg Lowry
Tracking PFAS in farmlands
This study examines how PFAS chemicals move through soils irrigated with wastewater. The research aims to identify factors in wastewater and soil that affect PFAS mobility, ensuring safer agricultural practices. Insights from this study will help in managing and reducing the environmental impact of PFAS on farmlands.
Faculty advisors: Sarah Fakhreddine and Greg Lowry
85-year record of Alaskan glacier change and impacts on future projections
This study assesses the past and future changes on two of Alaska’s most accessible large valley glaciers through the 3D reconstruction of 20th-century glacier surfaces from historical aerial photographs. We quantify long-term glacier mass and dynamic changes, and calibrate an evolution model to predict future changes, which have far-reaching implications related to sea level rise, water resources, natural hazards, climate, and culture.
Faculty advisor: David Rounce
Climate-resilient stormwater management
This project evaluates the impacts of future climates on urban and rural stormwater best management practices in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. By modeling pollutant removal under varying hydrological conditions, we aim to inform decisions for climate-resilient watershed protection.
Faculty advisors: Sarah Fakhreddine and David Rounce
Improving glacier mass loss projections through enhanced model calibration
This project improves projections of glacier mass loss across Alaska by integrating synthetic aperture radar data and seasonal mass balance measurements in glacier evolution model calibration. Alongside annual mass balance data, these data constrain model parameters and their uncertainties, ultimately improving projections of future glacier change.
Faculty advisor: David Rounce
Urban flood solutions
This project focuses on modeling and monitoring urban stormwater systems to address climate change adaptation. It uses publicly available climate data and promotes green infrastructure to create equitable solutions for urban flooding. The research aims to help cities develop resilient infrastructure to cope with extreme weather events.
Faculty advisors: Costa Samaras and David Rounce
Remote sensing field data for glacier change measurements
This research examines how field data can enhance our process-based understanding of glacier change across different spatial and temporal scales. By pushing the bounds of traditional glaciological measurements, we quantify the limitations and accuracy requirements necessary to measure seasonal glacier changes using remote sensing.
Faculty advisor: David Rounce
Protecting water quality during enhanced aquifer recharge
Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is a water enhancement strategy that stores excess water in aquifers for use during dry periods, helping to address groundwater depletion and promote sustainability. While traditionally sourced from surface water, treated municipal wastewater offers a climate-resilient alternative. However, MAR adoption is limited by concerns about mobilizing contaminants like arsenic and nitrate and the lack of geochemical risk assessment frameworks. This project evaluates MAR feasibility by analyzing aquifer geochemical compatibility across the U.S. and will develop an interactive web-map and guidance document to support water managers in safe MAR implementation.
Faculty advisor: Sarah Fakhreddine
Informing climate change risk decision-making for drinking water utilities
Climate change may decrease reliability of water provision and require changes in financing and operations by drinking water utilities. The extent to which climate change will affect a utility’s ability to provide adequate quantity and quality of water to consumers depends on its exposure to different climate hazards and its resilience to those hazards. This work aims to quantify climate change risks to drinking water system reliability and develop tools that enable improved utility decision-making and planning.
Faculty advisors: Costa Samaras and Jeanne VanBriesen