Luke Pangle

My research is motivated by two general questions: 1) how does weather variability, landscape heterogeneity, and human manipulation of landscapes control the magnitude of water fluxes in the terrestrial water cycle, and 2) how do the same factors control to distribution of water travel times through landscapes? My research includes field-based observational studies, laboratory- and field-based manipulative experimentation, and application of various flow- and transport-modeling techniques. I also utilize stable-isotopes of water as hydrological tracers, and operate a laser spectrometer in my laboratory for analysis of stable-isotope ratios in water samples. More recently, my research is focused on water fluxes in urban environments.

Areas of Expertise:

Catchment Hydrology
Vadose Zone and Ground Water Hydrology
Urban Hydrology
Applications of Stable Isotope Tracers in Hydrology

Current Projects:

Analyzing the Magnitude, Variability, and Governance of Infrastructure-Mediated Flows in Urban Watersheds. Supported by the National Science Foundation Geography and Spatial Sciences Program, Grant #1853809, in collaboration with GSU Geosciences Faculty Jeremy Diem, Richard Milligan, and Ellis Adams.

• Collaborative Research: Conceptualizing and quantifying the function of beaver dams and stormwater ponds on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of urban streams. Supported by National Science Foundation Hydrological Sciences Program, Grant # 2024411, in collaboration with GSU Geosciences Faculty Sarah Ledford, Georgia Gwinnett College Faculty Elizabeth Sudduth, UNC Charlotte faculty Sandra Clinton, and UNC Chapel Hill Faculty Diego Riveros-Iregui.
• Impact of beaver dam and beaver dam analogues on hydrologic and nitrate retention in Atlanta, GA. Supported by the USGS Georgia Water Resources Institute 104b grant, in collaboration with GSU Geosciences Faculty Sarah Ledford.
• Meteorological and ecological controls on water travel time distributions at Panola Mountain Research Watershed in the southeastern Piedmont, USA. Supported by Georgia State University, in collaboration with USGS Research Hydrologist Brent Aulenbach.
• Diurnal water table and streamflow fluctuations: ecohydrological significance and mechanistic evaluation. Supported by Georgia State University, in collaboration with USGS Hydrologist and GSU Graduate Student Jeff Riley (Jeff’s dissertation research).

Course Offerings:

GEOS 6007 – Groundwater Hydrology
GEOG 1113 – Introduction to Landforms
GEOS 6009 – Applications of Chemical Tracers in Hydrology