ISGS collaborates on study of critical interfaces

A team led by University of Illinois Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Praveen Kumar has received a grant of more than $6 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a five-year project to study “critical interfaces” in the environment that affect the transport and transformation of materials such as water, sediment, carbon, and nutrients. 

Scientists from the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) are part of this collaboration, which is an outgrowth of prior work to increase understanding of the critical zone—the region of the landscape from the top of the plant canopy to the bedrock beneath. The surveys will contribute expertise in long-term monitoring, mapping, and water quality to “Network Cluster CINet: Critical Interface Network in Intensively Managed Landscapes.” 

“Both operationally and scientifically, PRI brings a lot of value,” Kumar said. 

ISGS geologist Andrew Stumpf recently answered some questions about this collaboration.