Current Research

Stream Temperatures in Upstate NY
This study focuses on understanding the temperature dynamics in streams and rivers in Upstate NY. As climate change progresses, longer and hotter heat waves will occur during the summer, affecting stream temperatures during these periods. Climate change is also predicted to affect groundwater temperatures, which also play an important role in regulating stream temperatures. This is particularly problematic for fish species that rely on cool areas within streams for their survival. Therefore we are interested in furthering our understanding of how stream temperatures will be affected by such changes, both now and in the future. Furthermore we are interested in how such water temperature changes will affect water quality in streams, since water quality issues such as algae blooms can be worsened by increased temperatures.

HFLUX Stream Temperature Model Development
This research focuses on continued development of the HFLUX stream temperature energy balance model, which is a program written in MATLAB to calculate stream temperature through space and time. Ongoing work includes adding additional stream channel shape options, incorporating the capability to account for surface water inflows along the length of the modeled stream, and creating a GUI that can be used by students in courses. Additional future work includes scripting the model code in either R or Python to provide students and researchers with a version of the code that can be run using free software. 

Groundwater in an Agricultural Plain in Northern Italy
This study focuses on groundwater flow modeling in the southern portion of the Ticino basin of Northern Italy. This region is dominated by agriculture, particularly flood irrigated rice fields, and so the impact of this irrigation technique on aquifer recharge is of great importance. We are also interested in understanding how agricultural contaminants are transported from these fields to local rivers to better understand their impact on water quality. For this research MODFLOW, the USGS groundwater flow model, and MODPATH are used to study groundwater flow and transport in the basin. This study is also interested in assessing how climate change will affect groundwater flow and the water cycle in the future in this region.  
  ----------------------------   Related publications: Baker et al., 2022; Baker et al., In review  ----------------------------   

Previous Research

During my PhD I conducted research in the Department of Earth Sciences at Syracuse University where I studied surface water – groundwater interactions as a part of the Lautz Hydrology Research Group. My research used infrared imagery and heat tracing to study surface water – groundwater interactions in a proglacial valley in the Peruvian Andes. I also used groundwater flow modeling to estimate groundwater residence time in an alpine aquifer system. Through these studies we gained a better understanding of how stream water resources will be affected during the dry season once the glaciers in these basins are gone. 

Energy Balance Modeling

Objectives:

• Reprogrammed the MATLAB based HFLUX stream temperature model to add additional capabilities
• Created an energy balance model of the Quilcay stream and compared to in-stream temperature data
• Assessed whether incorporation of diurnal discharge improves modeled stream temperatures and estimated groundwater inflows​

Related publications: Glose et al., 2017; Baker et al., 2018

Groundwater Modeling

Objectives:

• Create a groundwater flow model of a portion of the Quilcayhuanca valley
• Calculate residence time of groundwater within the valley aquifer
• Assess how glacial retreat will affect groundwater resources in glaciated Andean catchments

Thermal Infrared Stream Temperatures

Objectives:

• Assessed current methods for correcting ground-based time-lapse TIR imagery of stream temperatures 
• Applied analytical and empirical corrections to ground-based time-lapse stream infrared data
• Assess spatial and temporal TIR stream temperature patterns
• ​Assess potential of drone based TIR data

Related publications: Baker et al., 2019; Caldwell et al., 2019

Hydrochemisty 

Objectives:

• Analyze stream chemistry and isotope data using linear discriminant analysis & mixing analyses
• Combine with heat tracing estimates of groundwater inflow to determine the relative contributions of melt water and groundwater to the stream

Undergraduate Research

As an undergraduate student I assisted with research projects on a variety of projects, none of which are related to the topics I research now or researched during my graduate studies. As an undergraduate, it is important to engage in research and internships to help explore your interests and decide what you want to do after you graduate, but the actual topic is not as important as the research skills and self knowledge that you gain from these experiences.

Calcite-Graphite Isotope Thermometry of Marble Mylonites in the Bancroft Shear Zone 

Objective: Determine whether extensional shearing in the Bancroft Shear Zone re-set the calcite-graphite thermometer to the temperature at the time of shearing in order to better constrain the conditions that reset this isotope thermometer

• Collected marble mylonite samples from the Bancroft Shear Zone during the summer of 2014
• Prepared mylonite samples for isotopic analysis by powdering the samples, separating the graphite from the calcite, and combusting the graphite to form carbon dioxide
• Extracted and purified the carbon dioxide using a vacuum line in the stable isotope laboratory

Egg Banks of Temporary Pools and Their
​Potential for Mosquito Production       

Objective: Determine how many viable mosquito eggs were dormant within the dry ephemeral pools

• Conducted biweekly sampling of 10 ephemeral pools to collect mosquito larvae
• Determined species of 800 mosquito larvae using a dichotomous key and dissecting microscope
• Sampled the adult mosquito population around ephemeral pools using carbon dioxide light traps
• Counted 4000+ adult mosquitos and identified the genus of a subsample of 300 adult mosquitos
• Collected leaf litter samples within the ephemeral pools when they were dry and soaked these samples 

Fe Isotope Fractionation During
​Fe(III) Reduction to Fe(II)   

Objective: Determine the effects of temperature and pH on the isotopic fractionation as Fe(III) is chemically and photochemically reduced to Fe(II)

• Conducted laboratory experiments to reduce Fe(III) to Fe(II) both chemically and photochemically at four temperature and five pH conditions
• Measured Fe(II) concentration using a spectrophotometer and separated Fe(II) from Fe(III) using a peristaltic pump and carbon-18 column
• Prepared Fe(II) samples for isotopic analysis on the mass spectrometer through anion exchange chromatography in the trace metal clean laboratory

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