Together with collaborators here at Virginia Tech (Durelle Scott in Biological Systems Engineering), I was recently awarded a NSF grant to study the effects of stream restoration practices on hyporheic exchange, ecosystem function, and pollutant attenuation in streams. The project will include a mix of theoretical hydraulics and biogeochemistry of surface water and groundwater together with stream restoration and water quality impairment mitigation applications. We anticipate a mix of field experiments and numerical modeling. We thus have an opening for a PhD student to start Fall 2012. The student would join the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, but would have interaction with an interdisciplinary variety of other departments such as Biological Systems Engineering, Geosciences, etc. Interested prospective students should contact me at ehester vt edu. Note that the CEE dept also has a direct PhD program that does not require an intermediate MS degree, so prior MS not required. More information on my research group can be found at
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/
More information on Dr. Scott's group can be found at