Why Model The Subsurface? Access to fresh water will always be necessary, and demand for fresh water will continue to increase with population growth. Because the overwhelming majority of the earth’s usable freshwater is stored in the ground, it is becoming increasingly important to develop accurate subsurface fluid flow models. How Do Subsurface Fluids Flow? The driving force behind subsurface fluid flow is the hydraulic gradient, which can be described as the change in the depth of the water table between two measuring points within a porous medim, divided by the distance between the two points (a slope!). However the ability of water to flow through a porous medium is determined by a material constant called the hydraulic conductivity. If we fully understood the geologic make-up of the subsurface, and similarily the distribution of hydraulic conductivity throughout, subsurface fluid flow modeling would be trivial. The inherent heterogeneity of the subsurface motivates my research. If you would like to learn more about my research, please read my research statement and/or contact me. Undergraduate Research I am very interested in teaching, designing, and encouraging all types of modeling activities for undergraduates.  For example, in my specific research discipline I have worked with students to develop basic contaminant flow models. This introductory research project can serve as a basis for in-depth undergraduate research that can be further developed by removing assumptions to create more complicated models, using different mathematical modeling techniques, and incorporating ideas from other disciplines such as chemistry and earth science. Outside of my applied area, I have also developed a number of modules for Introduction to Applied Mathematics Research, a class that I created and taught at the University of Iowa. These modules serve as an introduction to research in a variety of areas and, I believe, a great jumping off point for undergraduate interdisciplinary research. Current module topics that I look forward to exploring further include: Epidemiology and endemics Financial option pricing Continuous traffic flow Collision modeling using complementarity Image compression using wavelets