Former NM WRRI Student Water Research Grant Recipient Publishes Peer-Reviewed Article in the Scientific Journal, Water

By Carolina Mijares, NM WRRI Program Manager

Dr. William Weaver, a New Mexico State University Department of Civil Engineering graduate, has published a peer-reviewed paper in the scientific journal, Water. While studying at NMSU, Dr. Weaver was advised under the direction of Dr. Lambis Papelis, NMSU’s John Clark Distinguished Professor and Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center Interim Director. Dr. Weaver was a 2016-2017 NM WRRI Student Water Research Grant recipient.

In the recently published paper, Dissolution-Desorption Dynamics of Strontium During Elution Following Evaporation: pH and Ionic Strength Effects, Dr. Weaver investigated the effects of pH and ionic strength on the transport of strontium in the unsaturated zone, under dynamic water contents. The paper was written in collaboration with Dr. Tohren C.G. Kibbey and Dr. Papelis, and is available here.

Dr. Weaver’s student water research project entitled, Pore -Scale Transport of Strontium and Chromate During Dynamic Water Content Changes in the Unsaturated Zone, studied the mobility of contaminants in the unsaturated zone, the portion of the subsurface above the groundwater table. In this study strontium and chromate were looked at to understand their movement in porous media following processes such as evaporation, rainfall, and irrigation. A description of the results of this project are available by clicking here.

Dr. Weaver acknowledges NM WRRI for its contribution to his research, and states that he is greatly appreciative of the funding received. Through this support, Weaver was able to cover much needed research costs and chemical analyses, which led to the final publishing of his peer-reviewed article in Water. Dr. Weaver is currently pursuing a career in conducting research in environmental science and engineering.