Elizabeth A. Barnes , IT 2007
Predicting Algae Biomass in a California River Basin (Eco-Hydrology)
Major
Physics and Mathematics
Mentors
Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Civil Engineering
Brief Bio
I have participated in undergraduate research in many fields: neutrino particle physics, comsology, solid state physics, granular materials, hydrology, eco-hydrology, atmospheric sciences
Future Plans
I am starting graduate school at the University of Washington in 2007 studying atmospheric dynamics and climate change. Upon receiving my Ph.D., I hope to work for a research institution, such as NCAR, NOAA or NASA.
Why Research?
I did research because it gave me a chance to try different subjects out and see if I would want to study them for the rest of my life. Sometimes, I discovered that I did not want to study the subject in the future, and I wouldn't have figured this out without my multiple research experiences.
What Did I Get from Research?
This research gave me three authored papers, a stronger understanding of statistics and data analysis, and connections with faculty in the UK, California, Washington and Minnesota. In addition, I was sent to the San Francisco American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference to present our work.
Publications:
Scaling Nostoc biomass in a gravel-bedrock river: combining local dimensional analysis with hydrogeomorphic scaling laws. Barnes, E.A., M.E. Power, E. Foufala-Georgiou and M. Hondzo, Special Edition of Geophysical Research Letters, under review (2007).
Scaling in River Corridor Widths Depicts Organization in Valley Morphology, Gangodagamage, C., E. Barnes, E. Foufala-Georgiou, Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium, 2006, in print.
Upscaling Biological Quantities in a Watershed: combining local predictors with hydrogeomorphological scaling laws. Barnes, E., E. Foufala-Georgiou, M. Hondzo, M. Power, 2006, presented at AGU Fall 2006 Meeting.
How Did I Start?
I knew I wanted to try research outside of physics in an earth-science field. To find an advisor, I went to each IT department's web page and found professors whose work sounded interesting. I then contacted them and set up meetings to chat about what they might hire a physicist to do in their research. When I met withDr. Foufala-Georgiou, she told me about all the cool math she used to understand hydrology, precipitation patterns and the forming of river channels… I thought it sounded amazing and asked if she had room for an undergraduate.
My Advice for Another Student:
There are thousands of research opportunities out there; you just need to go looking for them. You should also find something that truly interests you…it is a lot easier to work hard on something you enjoy. Also, don't be afraid to contact professors and ask them about their work; they love talking about it.
Research Summary
As a physics and math major, I am not an ecologist, but my degrees have trained me to analyze data quantitatively and look for patterns. Dr. Foufoula-Georgiou collaborates with earth scientists all over the world, and this project involved analyzing 18 years of algae data collected by Dr. Mary Power at the University of California—Berkeley. With the help of eco-hydrologist Dr. Miki Hondzo, we used dimensionless quantities (a method used in hydrology, e.g. Reynolds number) to analyze the data. We discovered a simple relationship that involved only river water variables (width, depth, velocity of water) that explained a large amount of the variation in the height of the algae found along a stream. This finding and methodology is very useful for people studying the overall "health" of a stream. Algae play a very important role in keeping a stream healthy, and thus, being able to predict the amount present in an entire river basin is crucial to understanding the state of the stream.