The
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) is an administrative unit of the University
of Minnesota Department of Civil Engineering in the Institute of Technology.
SAFL is also affiliated with the Department of Geology and Geophysics and the
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, and is headquarters for the
National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED), an NSF-sponsored Science and
Technology Center.
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SAFL (e)Channel
Spring 2010
In this issue you will read about exciting new advances in our ability to track the changing landscape of rivers; using three-dimensional automated instrumentation developed by SAFL engineers, researchers can now map the minute elements that define a riverine system from the scale of milliseconds to the stratigraphic scale of millennia. + Read more from the director Sincerely, Fotis Sotiropoulos Professor and Director
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory |
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Tracking a Changing Landscape: Advances in SAFL instrumentation | IN 1944 A GEOLOGY PROFESSOR NAMED HAROLD FI SK presented to the Army Corps of Engineers a stunning series of hand-made maps depicting the historical traces of the lower Mississippi River. From southern Illinois to southern Louisiana, Fisk's masterpiece provided a three-dimensional pattern of sediments in the alluvial valley and deltaic plain. Painstakingly piecing together nearly 20 years worth of aerial photographs, topographic maps, and soil samples, he tracked the changing landscape and documented it with a rare artistic eye.
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Remembering Nels Nelson
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A MEMBER OF BARR ENGINEERING FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, Nels Nelson (MS '80) was well-respected by regulators, consultants, and the academic community for his work on water management and environmental review projects. He was a man of many talents, but to his friends and colleagues, it was his broad knowledge and his gentle leadership that they admired most about him.
Nelson, 59, died this January from a brain tumor. His sudden death cut short a flourishing career in water resources management at Barr, one that impacted all corners of the state, and beyond.
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Growth and Groundwater: Suburban sprawl and our water
| It is generally believed that urban development 
leads to a reduction in groundwater volume because impervious surfaces such as roads and parking lots increase surface runoff and reduce infiltration. A recent SAFL study shows that this might not always be the case. Research fellow Tim Erickson, working with Professor Heinz Stefan, has examined the effects of progressive urbanization in the upper Vermillion River and has found some unexpected results.
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Alumni Spotlight
|  Dr. Alwin Young (PhD '75), recently retired from the Chanhassen forecast office of the National Weather Service, tells us what it's like to be a hydrological forecaster.
+ Read the full story
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Awards & Honors
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Professor Emeritus Charles Song was awarded ASCE's Hydraulic Structures Medal at the EWRI Congress May 16-20, 2010 in Providence, RI.
Professor John Gulliver gave a keynote lecture "Gas Transfer from Bubble Swarms" at the 6th International Symposium on Gas Transfer at Water Surfaces, May 16-21, 2010 in Kyoto, Japan.
Computational research by SAFL director Fotis Sotiropoulos and postdoc Iman Borazjani establishing links between fish evolution and the hydrodynamics of swimming was featured in Inside JEB, which highlights key scientific developments published in the Journal of Experimental Biology (January 2010).
Professor John Gulliver received a grant of $404,000 from the U.S. EPA's 319 funding, through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, to do research on "Enhanced Filter Media for Removal of Dissolved Contaminants from Stormwater."
Professor John Gulliver and Professor John Nieber (Bioproducts/Biosystems Engineering) received a grant of $312,000 from the Minnesota Local Road Research Board to do research on "Assessing and Improving Pollution Prevention by Swales."
Graduate student Corey Markfort was awarded the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship for his submission, "Including Tall Canopy Wake Effects in Biosphere-Atmosphere Flux Parameterization for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Models." The goal of this fellowship is to ensure continued training of interdisciplinary scientists to support the study of the Earth as a system.
Graduate student Bereket Tewoldebrhan has received the 2010 Silberman Fellowship Award, which rewards academically outstanding students who perform their research at SAFL.
Graduate students Anwar Chengala and Arvind Singh are recipients of 2010 Tsai Travel Awards. Chengala used his award to attend the National Algae Association conference this February in Las Vegas, NV, and Singh used his award to attend the May EGU conference in Vienna, Austria.
Graduate student Arvind Singh has been awarded a 2010-11 University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.
The 41st Straub Award was presented by Civil Engineering department head Roberto Ballarini to Dr. Karan Venayagamoorthy on April 7, 2010. Venayagamoorthy received his PhD at Stanford University under the advisorship of Professor Oliver Fringer, and presented his research "Probing the physics of internal waves on a shelf break using numerical simulations" as part of the award ceremony.
The 2010 Anderson Award was presented by Professor Roger Arndt to graduate student Yi Fan on April 21. The award is made annually to a student pursuing studies in hydraulic engineering and/or water resources.
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Other News | >>Research fellow Andrew Erickson received travel grants from the Department of Civil Engineering and the Center for Transportation Studies to attend conferences in Auckland, New Zealand (Asia and Pacific Division of IAHR, February 2010) and Washington DC (Transportation Research Board annual meeting, January 2010).
>>Prof. John Gulliver weighed in on the Gulf
oil spill for FOX9 News (May 3) and MinnPost (May 4).
>>The new student group "Innovative Engineers" seeks to work with SAFL on bringing wind energy to developing countries. Read the story in the March 24 Minnesota Daily.
>>The research of SAFL director Fotis Sotiropoulos and postdoc Iman Borazjani on the role of water movements in molding fish bodies and swimming styles was featured on the University's homepage in February.
>>Prof. Heinz Stefan and SAFL graduate Andrew Sander (MS '09) talked to Earth Magazine in November about the effects of road salt.
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