Ongoing studies by WSE faculty and students
Stimulating and facilitating new interdisciplinary, watershed-based scholarship for faculty and students is at the very core of the Watershed Sciences and Engineering program. Some examples of both theoretical and applied research projects underway by WSE faculty and students are shown below.
River health and ecology
Aquatic ecologists Matt McTammany and Sean Reese are studying insect, crayfish, and mussel communities in the Susquehanna River to gain new insight into the river's ecology and overall health.
Read more ...Native and Invasive Plant Communities
Botanist Chris Martine and students are exploring the forests and meadows throughout the Susquehanna region, including several studies assessing the impact of invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed on native riparian plant communities.
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Physical processes and aquatic habitat
Jessica Newlin and Benjamin Hayes are mapping river valley and channel features in the Susquehanna River valley for clues to its geologic and anthropogenic history.
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NSF-sponsored field station underway
Remediating groundwater contamination requires innovative geotechnical engineering solutions. Mike Malusis, Jeff Evans, and Rob Jacob are designing and installing our own instrumented slurry wall that can be used for teaching and research for decades to come.
Read More ...Land Surface-Atmosphere Boundary Layer
Richard Crago and students explore the complex dynamics of watershed hydrology and river hydraulics, looking especially at evapotranspiration processes and water budgets in a nonstationary climate
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Geomorphic controls on stream habitat
Jessica Newlin, Ben Hayes, and Sean Reese are studying Pennsylvania watersheds that have been dammed and logged for two centuries and assessing their impact on native brook trout habitats today.
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Complex geospatial models are being developed to analyze geologic, soils,and hydroclimatic processes on a landscape scale. The models help interpret historic records and predict possible future outcomes."
Read More ...Alan Marchiori is leading teams of computer science and electrical engineering students design and build multi-parameter hydroclimatic sensor networks that use low-cost microprocessors and wireless communication devices to measure and transmit weather, flow, and water quality.
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Climate and fluvial systems in disequilbrium
The September 2011 floods from Tropical Storms Irene and Lee caused catastrophic flood in north-central Pennsylvania. Craig Kochel, Ben Hayes, and Jessica Newlin are studying the impact of such extreme weather events on streams, bridges, and communities.
Read more ...Carl Kirby has been studying the geochemistry of the acidic discharge of metal-laden waters from abandoned coal mines in Pennsylvania. He is using these findings to design and build limestone wetlands that passively treat the contaminated discharges and improve water quality downstream.
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Hellbender biology and conservation
Mizuki Takahashi and students are using aquatic mesocosms and eDNA molecular analyses to study the ecology and evolution of hellbenders and other amphibians. Their work extends from the Susquehanna watershed to other regions around the world.
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Daylighting streams and creating off-channel wetlands on Bucknell's campus.
"The stream was once diverted underground through a culvert, but now flows through a natural channel shaded by native plants, with wetlands to capture and filter stormwater runoff."
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"A Tale of Two Rivers: The Susquehanna and Delaware"
Bucknell is celebrating its 11th annual River Symposium on November 11 & 12, 2016.
Visit the symposium website
Ellen Herman is studying the flow of water and sediment from sinkholes and streams, through underground caves, fractures, and aquifer conduits, and back to the surface as springs. A significant portion of the land's surface is underlain by karst aquifers, which are especially vulnerable to pollution.
Read more ...Temporal and Spatial Variations
Since 2009 we have been monitoring water quality and flow conditions in the Susquehanna River to assess temporal and spatial variability in the river's metabolism and productivity.
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Click on the top menus to view current conditions in the river at Milton or Danville, PA.
We are monitoring water quality at several locations in the Susquehanna River and developing software and hardware solutions that stream the data back to campus, store it in archival databases, and display it visually in dashboards and websites such as above.
Read More ...Treating agricultural runoff
Matthew Higgins has partnered with the Union County Conservation District to design and construct wetlands that capture runoff from two different farms.
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Much of the Susquehanna River valley is pock-marked by old gravel pits, used to mine the sand and gravel deposited by the glacio-fluvial outwash deposits. Most are ecologically barren and remain as deep isolated pools. Ben Hayes and Richard Crago are working with a local mining company to actively create wetland habitat in the gravel pit as mining commences.
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The Watershed Sciences and Engineering Program at Bucknell University seeks to achieve national distinction for excellence in education and scholarship in science and engineering by incorporating the Susquehanna River watershed as a teaching and research laboratory.
Since 2006, it has been integrating water and the river into the curriculum and across academic disciplines in ways that enrich Bucknell's intellectual environment, promote sustainability and watershed stewardship, and enable the university to act as a catalyst for environmental and cultural progress in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond.
For more information, please contact benjamin.hayes@bucknell.edu.
Ongoing Projects and Research in the Susquehanna Watershed
November 13 -14, 2015
Ongoing Projects and Research in the Susquehanna Watershed
November 21 -22, 2014
Dams on the Susquehanna River
October 18-19, 2013
Flooding in the Susquehanna Watershed
October 12-13, 2012
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Supporting local development in the Susquehanna Valley by recognizing regional community assets
October 14-15, 2011
River Ecological Health
and the Chesapeake Bay
October 22-23, 2010
Native Americans, Ecology, and the Susquehanna Valley
September 26, 2009
Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce sediment and nutrient loading to the Chesapeake Bay
September 12 & 13, 2008
Seeking Common Ground Along the Susquehanna
September 28, 2007
The Upper Susquehanna River Basin and its Communities
September 23, 2006
Center for Sustainability and the Environment
Bucknell University
One Dent Drive
Lewisburg, PA 17837
T570.577.1830
T570.577.3699
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