Author Archives: Laura Toran

Winter Field Work 2023

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

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Grand Canyon Springs

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

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Villanova Stormwater Conference

I gave a presentation at the Villanova Stormwater Conference in October about the benefits of long term monitoring on the I-95 stormwater basins.  I was joined in the panel discussion by Dr. Robert Traver of Villanova and Edwina Lam and … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Two new urban hydrology publications with grad students

Two publications were accepted over the past month and a half: Pope, G.G., Nyquist, J.E., and Toran, L. 2022. Time lapse resistivity monitoring of a simulated runoff test in a bioswale located in Philadelphia, PA.  Journal of Sustainable Water in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Mapping urban soils using geophysics

Dr. Jon Nyquist and I performed an electrical resistivity survey along one of the stormwater basins next to I-95 to direct infiltration measurements in heterogeneous urban soil. We identified an extensive clay layer (blue regions) with a few pockets of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Revisiting a LiDAR survey

Ashleigh and I preformed a follow up LiDAR survey at Roychester Park this month. The previous survey was conducted before the stormwater control measures were installed, thanks to former student Liz Cushman and Dr. Jon Nyquist. We performed the follow … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Geothermal wells interrupt dust sampling

The dust collector we installed at Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust on Pennypack Creek had an interruption in sampling while they drilled geothermal wells onsite. That wasn’t the ambient dust we were trying to collect! We put the dust collector back … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

New students in lab summer 2022

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Visiting the Burren karst area in Ireland

I got to visit the Burren in Ireland this month! This famous karst area was created by deglaciation and deforestation removing the soil to expose limestone to weathering. That makes it a relatively young karst area. Also full of wild … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Last day of field work with Gina & Bojan

We tried to conduct one last ERT survey before Gina moved away from Philadelphia, but the water was too high in the Pennypack Creek!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment