von Salis Lecture: Mapping Processes Underground: Using Geophysics to Improve Groundwater Predictions

Subsurface fluids and pollutants often move in unexpected ways, spreading faster, lingering longer, or resurfacing well after cleanup efforts have finished. Traditional mathematical models struggle to predict these "anomalous" behaviors because subsurface environments are hard to access and highly complex, leading to inefficient water cleanup and inaccurate forecasts of chemical fate and transport. This talk examines how electrical resistivity—a geophysical technique that uses electrical flow to image subsurface properties and processes—can help scientists measure the factors driving this complex movement and build better, more accurate models for groundwater management.