Our current research plays in three interrelated sandboxes:

Community groundwater science and art

How can community priorities and creativity enrich groundwater science?
We collaborate with Indigenous and settler communities to co-create knowledge about groundwater, and are starting to integrate arts-based methods. This approach fosters meaningful engagement, aligning research with Indigenous rights and community priorities. From watershed research to storytelling through art, we aim to strengthen connections between science and society.

Groundwater systems and sustainability

w can we advance groundwater sustainability across scales and contexts?
We view and characterize groundwater as part of a complex social-ecological system and we integrate innovative sustainability concepts like strong sustainability and multi-generational goal setting. From global groundwater footprints to national and aquifer-level analyses, our work helps inform the path toward resilient and equitable water resource management.

Environment, health and groundwater

How do groundwater systems interact with ecosystem and human health?
Our research connects groundwater science with critical environmental and public health challenges. From predicting health impacts from contamination to analyzing groundwater-dependent ecosystems, we develop tools and approaches to safeguard water quality, ecosystem health, and societal well-being in a changing world.
Our previous research played in other related sandboxes:

Groundwater and Earth systems

What role does groundwater play in the Earth's interconnected systems?
We explored how groundwater interacts with climate, oceans, and the broader Earth system. By mapping global Earth System connections and helping redefine planetary boundaries for water, our research reveals groundwater's vital role in sustaining Earth's socio-ecological balance across spatial and temporal scales.

Streamflow depletion and environmental flows

How can we use groundwater to support food and water security while not compromising the health of aquatic ecosystems?
We have developed a new approach for defining the role of groundwater in environmental flows and a new tool for predicting the impact of pumping on streamflow, all to protect sensitive groundwater-dependent ecosystems

Fault-zone hydrogeology

 How do geological structures shape groundwater flow and resources?
Our interdisciplinary studies unravel how fault zones influence groundwater dynamics, from subsurface flow paths to hot spring distributions. By combining structural geology and hydrogeology, we uncover the complexities of groundwater movement in these unique geological settings.
The highest form of research is essentially play comes from Scarfe (1972), not Einstein.
Image sources: thenounproject's: earth, sustainability, river and thrust fault.