Author Archives: Laura Toran

Dan Bain of University of Pittsburgh and his students visited the Pennypack Urban CZ site to collect soil samples.  We had to work through the air coming down from the Canadian wildfires, but we got samples from all four geologic … Continue reading →

Ashleigh Kirker and I recently published a paper on why percent impervious cover doesn’t predict runoff.  Check it out in the Journal of Hydrology.

Gina Pope (advisor Jon Nyquist) and Ashleigh Kirker (Toran lab) both successfully defended their PhD dissertations this spring.  Congratulations Dr. Pope and Dr. Kirker!

The third Carbonate Critical Zone RCN conference was held in Fayetteville Arkansas.  Students and faculty visited the Savoy Research center and saw some amazing weathered karst surfaces.  My undergrad research assistant, Erin Spross, was among the students who attended the … Continue reading →

Our NSF critical zone hosted visitors from Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Delaware, and Lafayette College to tour Pennypack Creek (Philadelphia), Dead Run (Baltimore) and Northwest Branch (DC area).

Two of the students in our group presented at the regional NE-SE GSA meeting.  Undergrad Emilie Tannert-Schmidt presented data on dust collectors along an urban gradient. Grad student Ashleigh Kirker presented data from her third paper modeling effectivenees of stormwater … Continue reading →

I met with Swiss karst researchers this month and learned about how they use tracers to evaluate karst vulnerability and how the geology is used to identify capture areas. This photo from the geosciences department at University of Neuchatel is … Continue reading →

Two new publications were recently accepted working with external collaborators: Quantifying stream-loss recovery in a spring using dual-tracer injections in the Snake Creek Drainage, Great Basin National Park, Nevada, USA by  C. Eric Humphrey*, Philip M. Gardner, Lawrence E. Spangler, … Continue reading →

Field work continues in the winter.  I installed conductivity loggers in several tributaries to see if we can identify sources of road salt. This logger (see stake) is in Sandy Run tributary, just upstream of the USGS gage in Pennypack … Continue reading →

I just finished a hike from rim to rim across the Grand Canyon.  It was amazing.  In this post I am including photos of the springs we passed along the way (but the geology was amazing too). Roaring Spring is … Continue reading →