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SUMMARY:EESS talk on "Flow and Transport in the Natural Environment and Ag
 roecosystems: Advances and Applications in Soil\, Water\, Energy and Food 
 Systems"
DTSTART:20201027T121500
DTEND:20201027T130000
DTSTAMP:20260429T133528Z
UID:3c1416423fa9689ac3704db29ede89873fae54797e9b75108f0f22cc
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Christophe Darnault\, Associate professor\, Department of E
 nvironmental Engineering and Earth Sciences\,  College of Engineering\, C
 omputing and Applied Sciences\, Clemson University (USA)\nAbstract:\nUnder
 standing flow and transport processes in the natural environment and agroe
 cosystems is critical for the sustainable exploitation and management of n
 atural resources —soil\, water\, forests\, and fossil fuels\, the develo
 pment of effective remediation procedures\, and the protection of the huma
 n and ecosystem health. Our research on the soil and water conservation in
  agricultural and forestry systems investigates the impacts of water reuse
  and prescribed fires practices on the surface and subsurface processes 
 —hydrology and soil erosion\, and water quality within this landscape. W
 e studied the spatial distribution and morphometry of closed depressions c
 hange over time in a wastewater spray irrigated karst landscape with bedro
 ck fractures\, and modeled the groundwater flow and nitrate transport in t
 he karst aquifer resulting from the recycling and reuse of wastewater by i
 rrigation of agriculture and forestry lands for enhanced groundwater recha
 rge of a karst aquifer. Our research on post-fire effects on hydrological 
 and geochemical processes in soil from forest of the Southeastern United S
 tates established the soil physico-chemical and hydraulic properties of un
 burned and burned soils and how these properties relate to infiltration an
 d water repellency phenomena as well as sorption behaviors of polar and no
 npolar compounds. The release of emerging contaminants\, such as engineere
 d nanomaterials\, into the environment\; the prevalence of microbial patho
 gens (Cryptosporidium parvum and Toxoplasma gondii) in the soil and water 
 systems\; and the discharge of radionuclides (uranium) during storage\, ha
 ndling\, and disposal of nuclear materials in groundwater are inevitable. 
 To study the fate and transport of these contaminants in the subsurface\, 
 we have investigated their mobility under different hydrodynamic and bioge
 ochemical conditions found in the environment. We have demonstrated the cr
 itical role that preferential flow\; transient water content\, velocity\, 
 and chemistry\, gas-water and solid interfaces\; system heterogeneities\; 
 plants and microbes\; and their interactions and feedback have in the flow
  and contaminants behavior. Mobilization of crude oil is essential for the
  exploitation of petroleum reservoirs. We have explored the ability of nan
 oparticles (silica nanoparticles) to improve the efficiency of the chemica
 l-enhanced oil recovery process that uses surfactant flooding by examining
  interfacial and rheological properties of multiphase systems and sandston
 e-crude oil-nanofluid systems. Our research results will contribute to the
  development and validation of flow\, fate\, and transport models of conta
 minants from pore scale to watershed scale for management and protection o
 f soil and water resources\, petroleum reservoirs\, public health\, ecosys
 tem sustainability\, risk assessment\, and life-cycle analysis.\n\nShort b
 iography:\nChristophe Darnault is Associate Professor at the Department of
  Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Clemson University. He is
  the Chair of the South Carolina Section of the American Society of Agricu
 ltural and Biological Engineers. He serves as Associate Editor for Frontie
 rs in Environmental Science – Soil Processes\, Frontiers in Earth Scienc
 e\, section Soil Processes\, and served as Associate Editor for the Journa
 l of Hydrology (Elsevier). He has research and teaching experience at Rens
 selaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Illinois at Chicago. He was
  also a visiting scholar at Yale University. He received his Ph.D. in Envi
 ronmental and Water Resources Engineering from Cornell University\, and hi
 s combined M.S. & B.S. degree (Diplôme d’Ingénieur) in Agricultural\, 
 Environmental\, and Biological Engineering from the Institut Supérieur d'
 Agriculture\, Lille\, France (1995). Dr. Darnault’s teaching and researc
 h interests are in the fields of environmental health and engineering/bioe
 ngineering\, agricultural and biological engineering\, hydrological scienc
 es\, hydraulic engineering\, and soil and water resources engineering and 
 management.\n 
LOCATION:ZOOM
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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