Minutes for Unsaturated Zone Technical Committee Meeting
Monday, December 21, 2020
Virtually via Zoom.
Attendees: Yusong Li (TC Chair), Scott Tyler (Hydrology Section Chair), Joaquin Jimenez-Martinez (TC Deputy Chair), Veronica Morales, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, Raghavendra Jana, Bo Gao, Zhen Li, Bo Guo, Chadi Sayde, Zoe Kanavas (student member), Nandita Gaur, Lirong Zhong, Ryan Stewart,
Membership update: A list of current members is attached at the end of this document. Feel free to recommend new members. AGU recommends rotating off members who did not show up in the committee meeting in the past three years. Emails will be sent out to double-check the membership.
Session Feedback and Questions to Scott Tyler (Hydrology Section President):
The group expressed mixed experience with the virtual format of the AGU meeting. The online format can not be a replacement for the in-person format. Senior members had a difficult time engaging in the meeting. The virtual format did allow more students to join the meeting. The technical supports of AGU were very helpful. Specific comments on improving the quality of the meeting, as well as on session mergers, were discussed.
Scott Tyler took notes and will convey the suggestions to the AGU meeting committee. Up to now, it is not yet known what format will be taken for the 2021 AGU Fall meeting. Frontiers in Hydrology Meeting 2022 is scheduled in summer 2022. Technical committees will be largely involved in meeting planning.
A list of sessions organized or co-organized by the committee is attached to this minute. –thanks to every one for your great efforts!
Deputy-chair election: The committee elected Veronica Morales as the deputy chair.
Mini Award: The Vadose Zone hydrology session committee has nominated two student posters for committee mini award. 1st place will receive $300 and the 2nd place winner will receive $200.
1st place: Tom DeBell , North Carolina State University
Presentation title: Enhanced Hydrologic Monitoring using Fiber Optics - Implementing Distributed Temperature Sensing to Uncover Flow Paths and Groundwater Interactions in Stormwater Conveyance Structures
2nd place: Abdullah Mamun, Clemson University
Presentation title: Evaluating the ability of dual domain models to capture the water content evolution observed in the macropore and matrix regions of a soil by x-ray CT imaging during an infiltration experiment
Planning for next year:
Vadose zone hydrology session volunteers: Guo Bo, Nandita Gaur, and Raghu Jana – thank you!!!
Session Ideas:
Microbiological activities in the vadose zone
Large scale heterogeneity and vadose zone processes
Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and vadose zone processes
PFAS transport and remediation in the vadose zone
Climate change and groundwater
Online teaching
Website: https://connect.agu.org/hydrology/about/committees/unsat
Please send a short Bio to Raghu (r.jana@skoltech.ru) to include your information on the committee website. Mini-award winner information, committee meeting minutes, and 2020 session information will be sent to Raghu to update the website. The website will serve as a platform to document committee activities.
List of Committee Members (updated 21 December 2020):
Joaquin Jimenez-Martinez (Chair, 2021-2022)
Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Veronica Morales (Deputy Chair, 2021-2022)
University of California-Davis
Yusong Li (Past Chair 2019-2020)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Communication Director: Raghavendra Jana (Term Jan 2019-Dec 2020)
Communication Associate Director: Veronica Morales (Term: Jan 2020 – Dec 2021)
Committee Members
- Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, University of California, Merced
- Thomas Phelan, U.S. Air Force Academy
- Raghavendra (Raghu) Jana, Skoltech, Russia
- Manoj Shukla, New Mexico State University
- Thomas Harter, University of California – Davis
- Joshua Larsen, University of Queensland, Australia
- Kathleen M. Smits, University of Texas, Arlington
- Clare Robinson, University of Western Ontario
- Wei Zhang, Michigan State University
- Chadi Sayde, Oregon State University
- Ryan Steward, Virginia Tech
- Lirong Zhong, Pacific Northwest National Lab
- Jason Gurdak, San Francisco State University
- Ian Molnar, University of Edinburgh
- Nandita Gaur, University of Georgia
- Bo Guo, University of Arizona
- Bo Gao, Colorado School of Mines
- Zhen Li, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Shahab Karimifard, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (student member)
- Zoe Kanavas, University of Califonia - Davis