Category Archives: Project 3 (Fate & Transport)

Dr. Dorothy Vesper, co-investigator for PROTECT Project 3, recently provided expert testimony to the West Virginia House Energy and Manufacturing Committee, during discussion on a new bill that would provide additional exemptions to certain sites covered by the 2014 Aboveground Storage Tank Act. Currently, above-ground tanks containing water and oil byproducts are required to undergo […]

PROTECT Project 4 leader Dr. Ingrid Padilla is collaborating in a new international research project, financed by the German Science Foundation, to assess the effect of climate change and extreme events on infiltration, recharge, and availability of water resources in karst regions. The project “Global Assessment of Water Stress in Karst Regions in a Changing […]

In May 2018, PROTECT Project 4 researcher Dorothy Vesper was elected as a Geological Society of America Fellow. New GSA Fellows are nominated by existing Fellows in recognition of their contributions to the field of geoscience, and are elected during the spring GSA Council meeting. Dr. Vesper was nominated by Madeline Schreiber of Virginia Tech […]

A recent publication by the PROTECT Team revealed interesting findings on how drainage features impact groundwater flow in karst aquifers in Northern Puerto Rico. In karst terrains, subsurface conduit networks with unknown characteristics, and surface features (such as springs, rivers, lagoons and wetlands) act as drains for the karst aquifers, thus impacting regional groundwater flow […]

PROTECT Project 4 has continued working to understand the ways in which contaminants move in karst aquifers, an effort that has taken the form of laboratory and field experiments as well as historical record evaluations. This year, laboratory models have shown that the transport of dissolved Trichloroethylene (TCE), a harmful chemical compound commonly used as […]

Featured in the September 1st issue of Eos: Earth and Space Science News was the PROTECT-sponsored conference “Karst, Groundwater Contamination, & Public Health: Moving Beyond Case Studies,” an event held in late January in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition to being sponsored by PROTECT, the conference was supported by the non-profit organization Karst Waters […]

Dr. Ingrid Padilla, Project 4 Leader, has been appointed a member of the Navy Research Advisory Committee (NRAC), a civilian scientific advisory group that provides objective scientific analyses to the U.S. Navy. The NRAC advises and provides recommendations to the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, […]

Dr. Ingrid Padilla, PROTECT Project 4 Leader, has received the 2014 Distinguished Professor Award in Civil Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico. The award honors her outstanding teaching, research, and service contribution to the institution. At PROTECT, Dr. Padilla investigates the fate and transport processes that control the temporal and spatial distribution of contaminants in […]

PROTECT is proud to announce that Marvic Carmona de Jesus has been awarded a K.C. Donnelly externship!  Mr. Carmona is a graduate student at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, working towards his Masters of Science in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering.  His adviser, Prof. Ingrid Padilla, leads PROTECT’s […]

PROTECT trainee Norma Torres (UPRM, Project 4) has won a scholarship from the Puerto Rico Society of Engineers, the first ever of its kind for an environmental engineer. She will formally receive the award during a ceremony on November 24, 2013. Congratulations Norma!

Norma Torres Torres, a Masters student working on PROTECT Project 4, has won a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for the 2013-2014 academic year.  Congratulations Norma!!

Amanda Laskoskie, a PROTECT Trainee pursuing her Master’s at West Virginia University, was recently awarded with the 2012 Karst Waters Institute’s William L. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science Award.  The award was presented to her advisor, Dr. Dorothy Vesper, on Amanda’s behalf at a public ceremony in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday, March 3, 2012, at the […]

PROTECT graduate student Celys Irizarry was awarded with the KC Donnelly Externship. This award is given by the National Institutes of Health Sciences Superfund Research Program to promote transdisciplinary and translational research among early investigators and improve the quality of the educational and training environment. Celys is currently working on her master’s degree in Environmental […]