| Affiliations: | Aggie Research Mentoring Program |
| Project Leader: | Shishir Basant shishir.basant@tamu.edu Ecology and Conservation Biology |
| Faculty Mentor: | Bradford Wilcox, PhD |
| Meeting Times: | TBA |
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Team Size:
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3 |
| Open Spots: | 3 |
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Special Opportunities:
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There will be opportunities to develop an undergraduate research for thesis, present in conferences, or earn coauthorships if you work on the project substantially. In addition, you will be learning field skills (soil coring, geophysics) which are very valuable for those interested in working in the natural resources /environment sector.
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Team Needs:
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Candidates should be driven for research and field work. Particularly, we look for students who are comfortable with field work. You will gain skills related to hydrology, geophysical surveys, coring and some soil lab work. If you already have some experience or coursework on any of these topics, that will give you some advantage but it is not necessary. However, I mainly look for students willing to participate, work hard and learn. Feel free to reach out if you have questions. |
| Description | A lot of Texas savannas have been transformed by heavy increase in woody plant density which can have implications on soil water storage and groundwater recharge process. In this project, we will be using combination of geophysical surveys, deep soil coring and well installations for understanding the effect of vegetation cover. Specifically, we will be conducting electrical resistivity measurements followed by inverse modelling for soil moisture distributions. In addition, soil cores collected through drilling and coring will be used for anion concentration measurements. These methods are well established in the field as well as in the industry for assessing soil water dynamics or recharge processes. |