Elizabeth W. Boyer, Ph.D.

Interests:  hydrology, water quality, earth & environmental sciences, biogeochemistry, atmospheric deposition, forests, freshwater, groundwater, coastal zone, food-energy-water nexus, graduate education, history of science.

Curriculum Vitae
Google Scholar (publications & citations)  
Twitter (academic & science related posts)
Research & Training (field & lab studies gallery)
Outreach (let's talk about water gallery)
Profiles from Berkeley, Penn State, & AGU

Research:  As a hydrologist, my research explores how natural and anthropogenic factors affect status and trends of water quality. Quantifying processes that affect water resources remains a grand challenge-- requiring representation of flow paths and elemental cycles within diverse landscapes, and characterization of spatial & temporal variability. I approach research from an interdisciplinary perspective, and have worked with over 350 collaborators from around the world on my publications. Students & staff in my research group conduct projects involving field observations, laboratory studies, systems analysis, and/or hydro-ecological modeling. Such work provides a scientific basis for policies and management strategies to mitigate the effects of environmental pollution, and to protect, conserve, and restore water resources.

Service: Toward communicating scientific information, I participate in conferences and public events, provide scientific perspectives, engage in citizen science activities, and make Congressional visits.  I am a member of several advisory committees of the US Environmental Protection Agency considering air pollution, ecosystem health, and water resources. I serve as an Editor of the international journal Hydrological Processes.  I serve on the Board of Directors of the Universities Council on Water Resources and the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrological Sciences.  I lead one of the 54 centers comprising the National Institutes for Water Resources.  

Advising:  I enjoy working with students toward meeting their academic and professional goals. I advise undergraduates in the Watershed Option of the Forest Management Major and the Water Science Option of the Environmental Resources Management major. I advise graduate students in various degree programs suited to their interests, including Ecology; Environmental Pollution Control; Fisheries Science; Forest Resources; and Soil Science. I participate in dual-title interdisciplinary graduate education programs in Biogeochemistry, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources & the Environment, and International Agriculture.  Graduate students in my research group are standing on the shoulders of giants as part of hydrogeologist Irwin Remson's Academic Family Tree!  Prospective students should contact me to discuss opportunities.  Find us at Beth's office (304 Forest Resources Building); grad student offices (234 Forest Resources Building); water quality lab (329 Forest Resources Building), or atmospheric deposition lab (201 Forest Resources Laboratory).  

Courses: 

• Watershed Hydrology & Management (FOR 470, spring 2017)
• Research Scholarship, Integrity, and Communication (ESM 597, spring 2017 & spring 2018)
• Limnology (WFS/ERM 435, fall 2017 & fall 2018)
• Colloquium in Ecosystem Science & Management (ESM 590, fall 2017 & spring 2018). 

Some Current Projects:

• River Corridor Hot Spots for Biogeochemical Processing: a Continental Scale Synthesis
• Coupled Hydrological, Biological, and Geochemical Processes Controlling Water Quality in Critical Zone Observatory Watersheds
• Chesapeake Research Consortium
• Quantifying Nitrogen Flows, Threats, and Benefits at Global and Regional Scales
• Pennsylvania Atmospheric Deposition Research Program