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INVITED SEMINAR: Groundwater Mechanisms of Hillslope and Streambank Erosion and Failure Dr. Garey Fox,  Assoc. Professor, Oklahoma State University, ASABE New Holland Young Researcher Award
122 Rogers Hall, Friday, March 2@3:00 pm

ABSTRACT: In some watersheds, stream banks can contribute up to 85 percent of the sediment load in streams and rivers. Sediment is the most common cause of water quality degradation. Innovative research is increasing scientific knowledge and understanding about how seepage contributes to stream bank erosion and affects both surface and groundwater. Dr. Fox research hypothesizes that the mechanism of the seepage process depends on soil, hydrologic and geotechnical conditions. In other words, groundwater can act over extended periods to destabilize stream banks between stream flow events. Stream bank erosion is a significant economic and environmental concern. The sediment issue affects water quality. Considerable loss of land can often occur with erosion, which also can affect infrastructure such as homes, buildings and bridges depending on their locale.
Since joining the OSU biosystems and agricultural engineering faculty in 2006, Dr. Fox has been instrumental in garnering more than 20 grants - an almost unheard of number in so short a time period - from federal, state and university sources. He has served as lead investigator on 15 of those grants, including 3 U.S. Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative and 2 National Science Foundation grants.
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