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kamini singha

311 deike building, university park, pa 16802
phone: +1 814.863.6649
email: ksingha@geosc.psu.edu

professional experience

2005-0000 Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences at The Pennsylvania State University
2005-0000 Associate, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at The Pennsylvania State University
2003-2004 Lecturer, Department of Geophysics at Stanford University
2002-2004 Instructor, Outdoor Education Program at Stanford University
1997-2000 Student Trainee, Hydrology, Branch of Geophysics, U.S. Geological Survey

education

PhD - 2005 in Hydrogeology from Stanford University
BSc - 1999 with Honors in Geophysics from University of Connecticut

awards

2008 - National Science Foundation CAREER Award (5 years)
2007 - Penn State Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development in Africa (AESEDA) Faculty Fellow (3 years)
2004 - Best Oral Presentation, School of Earth Sciences Research Review, Stanford University
2003 - Outstanding Student Paper, Hydrology Section, Fall AGU Meeting
2000 - STAR Fellow, Environmental Protection Agency (3 years)
1999 - Cecil Green Fellow, Stanford Geophysics Department
1999 - Outstanding Woman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut
1999 - John B. Lucke Award for Outstanding Geology Student, University of Connecticut
1995 - Presidential Scholar, University of Connecticut (4 years)

research

general
  • hydrogeology
  • environmental geophysics
  • geostatistics

specific
  • physical processes controlling mass transport
  • interactions between flow and transport in the saturated and vadose zones
  • integration of geophysical imaging with flow and transport modeling to improve quantification of processes in situ in real time
  • accounting for spatially variable measurement physics for establishing field-scale relations between geophysical and hydrogeologic parameters
  • groundwater-surface water exchange in agricultural settings
  • impacts of small-scale mining on water quality in Ghana

more about our research

teaching

Geosc 452--Hydrogeology (Fall)
Geosc 444--Matlab Applications for Geoscience (Fall)
Earth 100--Environment Earth (Spring)
Geosc 497--Hydrogeophysics Field Camp (new in Summer 2009!)

other hydro-related courses at PSU
recent research papers (click here for full list and pdfs)
Nimmo, J.R., Perkins, K.S., Schmidt, K.M., Stock, J.D., Miller, D.M. and Singha, K. (in revision). Hydrologic characterization of desert soils with varying degrees of pedogenesis: I. Field experiments evaluating plant-relevant soil-water behavior. Submitted to Vadose Zone Journal.

Mirus, B.B., Perkins, K.S., Nimmo, J.R. and Singha, K. (in revision). Hydrologic characterization of desert soils with varying degrees of pedogenesis: II. Inverse modeling for effective properties. Submitted to Vadose Zone Journal.

Singha, K., Pidlisecky, A., Day-Lewis, F.D., and Gooseff, M.N. (in press). Electrical characterization of non-Fickian transport in groundwater and hyporheic systems. Submitted to Water Resources Research.

Day-Lewis, F.D. and Singha, K. (2008). Geoelectrical inference of mass transfer parameters: theoretical basis and numerical experiments. Water Resources Research, 44, W05201, doi:10.1029/2007WR006750, 6 p.

Culkin, S.L., Singha, K., and Day-Lewis, F.D. (2008). Implications of rate-limited mass transfer for aquifer storage and recovery efficiency. Ground Water, doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2008.00435.x, 15 p.

papers from 2007 and earlier


recent abstracts
Irving, J., Singha, K., and Holliger, K. (2008). Stochastic integration of crosshole resistivity and tracer test data for improving hydrological predictions. EOS Trans. AGU, Fall Meet. Suppl.

Day-Lewis, F.D., Johnson, T.C., Singha, K., Henderson, R.D., and Versteeg, R.J. (2008). Using tomograms for quantitative interpretation of processes and properties. EOS Trans. AGU, Fall Meet. Suppl.

Regberg, A., Zheng, Q., Picardal, F., Singha K., and Brantley S.(2008). Anomalous electrical signals associated with microbial activity: results from iron- and nitrate-reducing columns. EOS Trans. AGU, Fall Meet. Suppl.

Singha, K., Day-Lewis, F.D., Pidlisecky, A. and Gooseff, M. N. (2008). Characterization of non-Fickian transport in ground-water and hyporheic systems Using electrical geophysics, National Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Oct. 5-9, 2008, Houston, TX: GSA Abstracts with Programs.

Nimmo, J. R., K.S. Perkins, B.B. Mirus, K.M. Schmidt, J.D. Stock, D.M. Miller, and K. Singha, (2008). Ecohydrologic roles of small-scale lateral soil heterogeneity in arid environments, Ecological Society of America Meeting, Aug 3-8, 2008, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Nimmo, J. R., K.S. Perkins, B.B. Mirus, K.M. Schmidt, J.D. Stock, D.M. Miller, and K. Singha, (2008). Indices of soil water availability for diverse water-limited ecosystems. International Hydropedology Conference, July 28-31, 2008, University Park, PA.

Regberg, A., Singha K., Brantley S., and Tien, M. (2008). Using conductivity to measure iron reduction rates from flask to field. Goldschmidt 2008, July 13-18, Vancouver, Canada.

Singha, K., Day-Lewis, F.D., and Lane, J.W., Jr. (2008). Geoelectrical evidence of bicontinuum transport in groundwater, American Society of Civil Engineers' Environmental & Water Resources Institute World Environmental & Water Resources Congress May 13-16, 2008, Honolulu, HI.

Kuntz, B. and Singha, K. (2008). Quantifying the processes controlling turbulent flow during pumping tests. Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists' Annual Meeting, Camp Hill, PA, May 7, 2008.

abstracts from 2007 and earlier
talks
2008
Invited Talk: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich Institute of Geophysics, Switzerland
Invited Talk: Lancaster University Department of Environmental Science, UK
Invited Talk: University of Michigan Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Invited Talk: Ohio State University School of Earth Sciences
2007
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting
Invited Talk: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, ICG-IV, Germany
Invited Talk: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne/Université de Lausanne Institut de Géophysique, Switzerland
Invited Talk: Oklahoma State University School of Geology
Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development in Africa Forum
2006
Invited Talks (2): American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting
Invited Talk: Penn State Water Resources Engineering
2005
Invited Talk: City College of New York Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting
Invited Talk: American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting
Invited Talk: U.S. Geological Survey Geophysical Unit of Menlo Park, CA
2004
Invited Talk: Stanford University Hydrogeology Group
Stanford University School of Earth Sciences Research Review
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting
Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting
Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems
2003
Invited Talk: EPA Region 9 Science to Achieve Results Research Forum
Invited Talk: Bucknell University Department of Geology
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting
Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting
Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems
2002
Invited Talk: Colorado School of Mines Department of Geophysics Heiland Lecture
professional memberships
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS)
Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG)
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)
university and community service
  • Deputy Chair of the AGU Hydrogeophysics Committee (2006-present)
  • Member of the Executive Council for the AGU Near-Surface Geophysics Focus Group (2006-present)
  • Member of the CUAHSI Hydrologic Measurement Facility Geophysics Advisory Group (2006-present)
  • Chair of the Penn State Geosciences Computing Committee (2007-present)
  • Member of the Penn State Geosciences Undergraduate Program Committee (2006-2008)
  • Board member of the State College International Friendship House (2007-present)

  • Organizer of the Fall 2008 PSU EarthTalks seminar series: 'Quenching the Thirst: Managing the Water Resources of a Changing Planet'
  • Invited co-convenor of a joint Hydrogeology/Geophysics session at GSA 2008 entitled 'Hydrogeophysics: Characterization and Monitoring of Subsurface Parameters and Processes' (with F. Day-Lewis, USGS and A. Pidlisecky, U. Calgary)
  • Co-convenor of four Fall AGU 2007 Hydrology sessions entitled 'Watershed Characterization and Modeling' (with T. Ferré, Arizona; D. Hyndman, Michigan State and T. Wagener, PSU)
  • Co-convenor of one Spring AGU 2006 Union session entitled 'Near-Surface Geophysics: The State of the Art' (with L. Slater, Rutgers)
  • Co-convenor of two Spring AGU 2005 Near Surface Geophysics sessions for General Contributions (with R. Knight, Stanford)
  • Co-convenor of three Fall AGU 2004 Hydrology sessions entitled 'Hydrogeophysics: Characterization and Monitoring of Subsurface Parameters and Processes' (with F. Day-Lewis, USGS and M. Kowalsky, LBNL)