Kim has been a full-time Hydrologist on the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project since May 1997. Kim's current research includes aquifer recharge estimation and the effects of spatial variability of recharge in humid regions. Kim coordinates the project's research with USGS personnel in Idaho, New Jersey, Colorado and elsewhere, manages project administrative and budgetary functions, serves as the project webmaster, and publishes and presents scientific results. She has expertise in soil science, unsaturated-zone hydrology, and field and laboratory techniques for measuring hydraulic properties. Kim has a B.S. in Soil Science (12/96) from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.S. in hydrogeology from San Jose State University (8/05).

Kathy Akstin has been a hydrologist with the Infiltration and Drainage Project of the USGS since 10/80. She worked on our project's research actively in the 1980s. Kathy conducted lab measurements of soil hydraulic properties for development of the steady-state centrifuge method, for investigations of compaction effects on these properties, and for recharge-estimation applications. Kathy has a B.S. in Soil Science (6/78) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Alumni of the UZ Flow Project:

• Jane Duxbury was a full-time student intern for the summer of 2005 after completing her BS in Geology from San Francisco State University. Her work with the UZ Flow Project involved planning and conducting a field infiltration experiment to examine soil-age dependent hydraulic properties in the Mojave Desert in relation to habitat suitability. In Fall 2005 she started working toward her M.S. in Geology at the University of Vermont.

• Kari Winfield was a full-time Hydrologist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from August 1998 through May 2005. Kari has expertise in physics, geology, hydrology, and unsaturated flow. She developed and applied laboratory measurement techniques for unsaturated hydraulic properties and used the resulting data for developments of unsaturated flow theory and water resource assessment. Kari has an M.S. in Geology from San Jose State University (12/00) and a B.S. in Physics from the University of California, San Diego (3/94).

• Chris Heppner was a part-time hydrologist with the Unsaturated Zone Flow Project from April 2003 to March 2005. He has expertise in hydrogeology, near-surface hydrologic response, and conceptual and numerical modeling. His work with the UZ Flow Project focused on field and modeling studies of groundwater recharge at two humid region sites, one in Pennsylvania and the other in Minnesota. Chris has a B.S in Geology/Biology from Brown University (5/98) and is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Hydrogeology at Stanford University.

• Ana M. Laguna was a visiting scientist working with John Nimmo's project from September 2004 through February 2005. She is a professor in the Applied Physics Department at the University of Córdoba, Spain, the same school where she earned her Ph.D. in agricultural engineering (6/89). Ana has worked on rainfall-induced and mechanical soil erosion with emphasis on the role of trees in the redistribution of rain and soil. Her recent work uses lattice-Boltzmann models to study processes such as tracer transport in fissures and the role of obstacles on the transport of soil and contaminants due to overland flow. At the USGS she collaborated on modeling investigations of soil moisture dynamics in the Mojave Desert.

• Sabrina Belknap was a full-time student intern for the summer of 2004.  Her work with the UZ Flow Project involved planning and preparing for an infiltration experiment which will be used to determine soil moisture properties in the Mojave Desert.  In 2004 she graduated from the University of Toledo with a B.S. in Environmental Geology.  In Fall, 2004 she started working toward her M.S. in eology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

• Maria Clementina Caputo was a visiting scientist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from July-November 2003. She is currently working on a publication of her research in the UZ Flow Lab back in Italy. Since 2000 she has mainly been involved in research on the unsaturated flow with particular attention on the experimental measurement techniques to evaluate hydraulic properties on samples of coherent porous rock. Maria's current research includes the design new laboratory method, based on quasi-steady unsaturated flow in a centrifugal field, for measuring rock properties and development of instrumentation for the method's implementation. Maria has been an Italian National Research Council researcher since May 2001. Prior to that, she collaborated with the Water Research Institute from 11/94 to 04/200. She has a Ph.D. in Geology (7/93) from the University of Bari.

• Grace Su was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from 10/99 to 09/02. Her background is in hydrogeology and multi-phase/unsaturated flow and contaminant transport in porous media and fractured rocks. For her Ph.D. research work, she conducted laboratory experiments to examine mechanisms controlling flow and transport in unsaturated rock fractures. Her postdoctoral work included examination of the effect of flow occurring simultaneously through the rock matrix and fractures under unsaturated conditions. Grace has a B.S.E. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (5/94) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,and an M.S. (5/95) and Ph.D. (10/99) in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

• Dean Miller worked with the project from 7/00 to 10/01. He conducted laboratory experiments to determine hydraulic and other properties of unsaturated porous media. Dean has a B.S. in Geology from the University of Wyoming (08/99).

• Hubert Morel-Seytoux was been a volunteer with the UZ Flow Project from 12/96- 08/00, conducting and publishing research on the modeling of unsaturated hydraulic properties, especially water retention and capillary drive. Hubert is Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins.

• Sandy Chang worked part-time as a Hydrologist with the Unsaturated-Zone Project from 10/98 to 7/99. She measured water retention under vapor-dominated conditions and demonstrated promising correlations with specific-surface areas, which are more easily measured, for samples from the INEEL and Mojave Basin sites. She is working toward a B.S. degree in Hydrogeology and Geological Engineering at Stanford University.

• Michelle A. Denton worked as a full-time Hydrologist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from 7/97 to 8/99. With emphasis on the INEEL field site, Michelle has reviewed and analyzed lab and field data, conducted field tests, developed advancements in unsaturated-flow models, and served as the project's report specialist and computer specialist. Michelle has a B.S. in Environmental Resources Engineering (5/97) and B.A. in Applied Mathematics (12/95) from Humboldt State University

• Angus M. Lewis, graduate student and part-time Hydrologist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from 6/97 to 5/99, has conducted lab experiments for the MRGB study and interpreted the results to upscale point-recharge measurements on the basis of basin subregions and their identifiable geomorphic characteristics. Angus has an M.S. in Geology (12/00) from San Jose State University and a B.S. in Math (6/93) from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

• Jeff Deason, as a student and part-time Hydrologist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from 7/96 to 6/98, conducted research and completed a thesis on Mojave Basin research. Jeff has an M.S. in Environmental Systems (6/98) and B.S. in Environmental Systems (6/97) from Stanford University

• Stephanie Shakofsky, Hydrologist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from 3/91 to 2/97, has completed a wide variety of field and lab research related to the INEEL field site. She has a B.S. in Geology from the University of Illinois and an M.S. in Geology (12/93) from San Jose State University. Stephanie is the Executive Director of the California Center for Land Recycling.

• S. Jane Liaw, a student and part-time Hydrologist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from 2/95 to 12/96, has made lab measurements of hydraulic properties of deep-UZ core samples from the Mojave Basin site, including steady-state centrifuge hydraulic conductivities for aquifer recharge estimates. Jane has a B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University and an M.S. in Public Health (6/00) from the University of California, Berkeley

• Cinzia Rossi, Visiting Scientist with the Unsaturated-Zone Flow Project from 3/92 to 1/93, has formulated, tested, and published an analytical model of soil water retention that is physically realistic over the entire range from saturation to oven-dryness. She has a Ph.D. in Hydrology (2/92) from the University of Genoa. Cinzia currently works as a hydrologist with the Regional Authority of Liguria, Genoa, Italy.

• Karen Mello, Soil Scientist with the Unsaturated-Zone FlowProject from 7/88 to 9/90, has made lab measurements of hydraulic properties of UZ core samples from the Panoche and Palouse sites. She has a B.S. in Soil Science (6/88) from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

• David Lyons, Mechanical Engineering graduate student and part-time Hydrologist with the USGS from 7/89 to 2/91, designed and constructed an improved soil-packing machine based on the machine of Chuck Ripple (Ripple and others, 1973). David has an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. degree from Stanford University.

• David Yu, student and part-time Hydrologist with the USGS from 6/87 to 12/88, designed and constructed a soil-recoring machine for making minimally disturbed soil core samples from larger cores obtained with field drilling and sampling equipment.