Tuesday, May 12th
Dr. Steven P Loheide II, 2026 Darcy Lecturer
“Trees are Groundwater Stakeholders Too”
Dr. Steven Loheide is the Distinguished Professor of Water Resources Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Geological Engineering, Freshwater and Marine Sciences and Water Resource Management at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He received his BS in Environmental Chemistry and Geology from the University of Northern Iowa (1999), MS in Geology from Indiana University (2001), and PhD in Hydrogeology from Stanford University (2006). As an ecohydrologist, Loheide’s research focuses on the interactions between ecological and hydrological processes in natural and built systems with special attention to the role of groundwater. His approaches use a combination of field data, remote sensing, and numerical modeling to understand the feedback between vegetation patterning, plant water use, soil moisture availability, groundwater regimes, stream-aquifer interactions, and agricultural and urban water management. This work is focused on improving the scientific basis for stream, floodplain, meadow, and wetland restoration efforts; quantifying the provisioning of hydrologic ecosystem services under current and future scenarios; and evaluating interactions among groundwater and urban, agricultural, and natural environments.
Wednesday, May 13th
Melanie Redding and Chris Neumiller
“Tales from the first Symposium on the Hydrogeology of Washington State.”
How it got started, mistakes that we made, and what we did to help ensure a successful future for this event.
Melanie is a licensed hydrogeologist and has worked for the Washington State Department of Ecology for 35 years working in water resources, water quality, and conducting groundwater research.
Chris is a licensed hydrogeologist with the Washington State Department of Ecology, where she has worked for 36 years in cleanup site management and clean water studies before moving to data management. Chris is the data manager for Ecology’s Environmental Information Management System (EIM).
Melanie and Chris were part of the inaugural effort to launch the first Symposium on the Hydrogeology of Washington State. Their efforts, and those of many other Ecology hydrogeologists, helped lay the groundwork for this successful event.