Since the beginning of the year the Water Survey has hired more than a dozen new people, expanding our the capabilities and capacity.
- Michael Atkinson, hourly staff, Health and Environmental Applications Laboratory (HEAL)
- Liang Chen, Assistant Research Scientist-Climatology, focuses on climate modeling and land-atmosphere interactions. His current work includes assessing climate impacts on renewable energy, understanding the role of soil moisture in heatwaves, and investigating the feedback of vegetation and agricultural practice on climate and extreme events.
- Stacey Coffman, Physical Science Staff Assistant, works in the Health and Environmental Application Laboratory (HEAL). She is involved with pH/conductivity analysis and sample and supply preparation for the National Ecological Observatory Network and with analysis of pH, color, turbidity, and total dissolved solids for the Public Service Lab.
- Cecilia Cullen, Scientific Specialist-Hydrogeology, is a new addition to the Groundwater Section/Water Supply Planning team investigating the at-risk water supplies in Will County. She assists with updating and improving the groundwater flow models of Will County, while communicating with stakeholders to collect monthly data and understand emerging risks to water supply. Cullen is also researching new methodologies to assess water quality using groundwater flow models, with a focus on increasing chloride concentrations in Will County and volatile organic compounds in East St. Louis.
- Nina Gartman transitioned a new role as Assistant Scientist-Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Supervisor after working for more than 14 years with the Water Survey in analytical chemistry and QA roles. Gartman is responsible for the management of the analytical staff, instruments and facilities of the Health and Environmental Application Laboratory (HEAL). She also conducts ion chromatography analysis, flow injection analysis, and other analysis as required for HEAL projects–the National Ecological Observatory Network, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, and Public Service programs.
- Vlad Iordache, Scientific Specialist-Water Resources Application Developer. Iordache works with both the Groundwater Section and Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program (CHAMP). For CHAMP he is automating flood-related modeling processes for their work with FEMA. For the Groundwater team he is automating groundwater data collection, analysis, and display capabilities related to the Illinois Water Inventory Program and Water Supply Planning in the Rock River Region.
- Jarel Jackson, hourly staff, Groundwater Section/WaterOperator.org
- Allan Jones, Scientific Specialist (Groundwater Section/Water Supply Planning), is developing a flow and transport model of the American Bottoms (East St. Louis) and calculating recharge rates and estimating the sustainable yield of the Water Supply Planning Middle Illinois Region.
- Michael Krasowski, hourly staff, Groundwater Section/Water Supply Planning and IDOT-East St. Louis
- Rebecca Leitschuh (AICP), Assistant Scientist-Mitigation, Planning & Outreach with the Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program (CHAMP), is an urban planner with a healthy compulsion to create safer, more sustainable communities in Illinois. As a resident of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, a former mitigation planner with FEMA, and as a former municipal planner, she understands the significance and nuances of actionable mitigation and the gravity of failing to adequately plan.
- Rongqi Pan, graduate student, Surface Water-Water Supply
- James Powell, Senior Scientific Specialist with the Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program (CHAMP), is an engineer tasked with performing hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for streams throughout the state of Illinois in support of flood hazard mapping activities. Additionally, he provides quality control and assurance of hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, as well as technical assistance in reviewing FEMA MT-2 revision requests.
- Evan Rea, Visiting Senior Scientific Specialist-Lab QA, is preparing the Health and Environmental Applications Laboratory (HEAL) for accreditation, which involves developing and updating policies and procedures to bring HEAL into compliance with the 2016 NELAC Institute standard. Rea also chairs the ISWS QA/QC Committee and manages the logistics of shipping samples worldwide for the World Meteorological Organization’s laboratory proficiency testing program.
- Ashish Sharma, Assistant Research Scientist-Climatology, is interested in land/ocean-atmosphere interactions at a range of spatial scales that are relevant to the management of human and natural systems. His research focuses on reducing vulnerabilities and increasing readiness in urban, agricultural, and natural environments in a changing climate. He performs targeted dynamical downscaling experiments with the goal of creating “bridges” between global, regional and micro-scale modeling. He collaborates with cities and institutions to work on environmental issues related to heat, fog, air quality, and high impact weather.
- Karsten Shein, Associate Research Scientist-Climatology, is an applied climatologist specializing in environmental data collection, management, and analysis. He is leading the Midwestern Regional Climate Center, and his research interests focus on climate variability and extremes, especially at local to regional scales, and their impacts on environmental, societal, and economic systems.
- Cora Wessman, graduate student, Groundwater Section/Illinois Water Inventory Program
- Jessica Wiegand, hourly staff, Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program
