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ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

General
Associated Center
Associated Faculty

Selected Research Profiles

• Flooding, hail, tornados and hurricanes. . .who can predict?
• Can a dry lake basin breed bad air?
  
  Dr. Dani Or, Northeast Utilities Chair Professor of Environmental Studies, is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of unsaturated porous media and soil physics. Dr. Or seeks to develop methods of predicting the movement of liquids and gases through soil and rock pores, especially when these pores contain water. At Owens Valley, CA, he is developing methods to predict the impact of pumping and groundwater withdrawal on native vegetation. Owens Valley lies on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains bordering Death Valley to the east were desert conditions resulted from the 1913 completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which transports water 250 miles from Owens Lake to Los Angeles. The aqueduct has fed development of LA as well as the San Fernando Valley while depleting Owens Valley. Today, the dry Owens Lake bed produces hazardous airborne particulates and dust storms. Dr. Or's approach will seek to resolve the problem by reintroducing the groundwater necessary to sustain plant life, thus reducing erosion and the "dust bowl" effect.
  
  
• On the trail of antibiotics in the environment