From the front page, left to right: William L.Fisher, Bridget R. Scanlon, and Scott W. Tinker.
Bridget Scanlon, senior research scientist and hydrologist at the Bureau, was recently appointed as the William L. Fisher Endowed Chair in Geological Sciences, as well as being named a fellow of the Cedraro Memorial Excellence Endowment, which benefits the Fisher Chair. Scanlon also recently received the M. King Hubbert Award from the National Ground Water Association (NGWA).
The William L. Fisher Research Chair bestows distinction on research scientists, research professors, or faculty members for their excellence in research, teaching, and service. The endowed chair, honoring former Bureau director and State Geologist William Fisher, provides funding for exceptional research and is reviewed every 6 years. The award recipient is nominated by committee and recommended to the Dean of the Jackson School of Geoscience at The University of Texas at Austin.
Said JSG dean Sharon Mosher, “Bridget is one of the leading experts in the world on water resources, and her work is vitally important to help solve some of the pressing issues of the 21st century. Her research has helped improve the understanding of groundwater depletion worldwide and played an important part in informing U.S. water policy, as well as water policy here in Texas.”
Scanlon received her M. King Hubbert Award from the NGWA for “major science contributions to the knowledge of groundwater.” Said nominator Dr. William Alley, NGWA’s director of science and technology, “Dr. Scanlon is an active and energetic scientist devoted to the advancement of geoscience and education. She is a gifted scientist and collaborator, and has made outstanding contributions on cutting-edge science.”
Scanlon leads the Bureau’s Sustainable Water Resources Program, a research group that combines a variety of analysis methods—from local field measurements to data from NASA’s GRACE satellite—to provide insight on water in the environment at a variety of scales. Recently, Scanlon led the most comprehensive study to date on the water supply of the Colorado River Basin, a water source for over 40 million people. Her work has improved the understanding of groundwater depletion worldwide and has played an important part in informing U.S. water policy, particularly water management in California’s Central Valley.
Topics of Scanlon’s research include groundwater recharge, application of numerical models for simulating variably saturated flow and transport, assessment of natural and anthropogenic contamination of groundwater, impacts of climate and land-use changes on hydrologic processes, and water use and availability for energy.
Scanlon’s numerous past honors include being elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. She is also a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) and serves as the GSA Birdsall–Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer. She has published more than 100 articles in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals such as Groundwater®, Water Resources Research, and Environmental Science & Technology. Scanlon has also served on many National Academy of Sciences committees, been involved with numerous U.S. Department of Energy scientific endeavors, and been a key member of the NASA GRACE Science Team. Scanlon received a B.S. in geology from Trinity College, Dublin, an M.S. in geology from the University of Alabama, and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Kentucky.
