Achievement

Ecosystem Informatics IGERT trainee Chris Graham defended his PhD in Forest Engineering, a set of studies of water flowpaths in forested watersheds. In an internship, Chris conducted replicated experiments in Oregon, Georgia, and New Zealand involving irrigation of forested hillslopes and tracer tests. This work demonstrated that water added to the soil surface of these forested hillslopes infiltrates to depth and then travels rapidly downslope, with major implications for understanding flood generation and contaminant transport processes in watersheds. Graham, C.B. 2008. A macroscale measurement and modeling approach to improve understanding of the hydrology of steep hillslopes. PhD thesis in Water Resources Engineering, Oregon State University; Barnard, H., Graham, C. VanVerseveld, W., Brooks, J., Bond, B., and J.J. McDonnell 2009. Mechanistic assessment of hillslope transpiration controls of diel sub-surface flow: a steady-state irrigation approach. Ecohydrology, in review.