Research Activities
FER Home : Watershed Hydrology : Research Activities
Our research in watershed hydrology often involves related natural resource topics such as the management of forests, riparian and wetland ecosystems, wildlife and fisheries management, ecosystem assessement, engineering and public policy.
In the past decade, we have pursued a number of interdisciplinry, intercollege research efforts, including the assessment of lake and stream bio-systems; man-induced changes in the chemical climate and their effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; wetlands, biomass, nutrient and energy distribution in hardwood forests of the South; species selection and silvicultural systems for plantation hardwoods in the Southeast; forest hydrology and soils; hydrology of wetlands; management and hydrology of forest drainage systems; management of riparian ecosystems; effects of silvicultural practices on soil and water; soil mechanics and ground water flow; wetland ecology; GIS tracking of LV changes and impacts on lakes, wetlands and coastal ecosystems; the effects of land use on water quality and fisheries ecology; the effects of Christmas tree production on water quality in western North Carolina; and the role of public and community involvement in environmental and natural resource management policies affecting watersheds.
Current Initiatives
Currently, faculty and students within Watershed Hydrology are conducting the following major research projects:
- Development of GIS methods for mapping headwater streams: this joint project is being conducted with the NC Division of Water Quality. It is a GIS-based study that involves collecting data on stream health and habitat assessment while also creating and testing equipment to measure flow and water quality.
- Assessment and planning for the Black Creek Watershed in Cary, NC: this is an EPA-funded program managed by the NC Division of Water Quality that also involves faculty from NC State’s Department of Agricultural Sciences and Economics. Work done on this project will contribute to watershed education for local government officials.
Grad Student Research
Graduate students within watershed hydrology are currently pursuing a variety of research topics , including Jen Musella's Impact of Plant Organic Matter on PAH Description from Petrogenic-Polluted Sediments and Tom Colson's Stream Network Delineation from High Resolution Digital Elevation Models.
For a complete list of graduate research on file with the University, please visit the Dissertation Library of the NC State University Graduate School and follow the search link located at the bottom of the lefthand column.
Research Facilities
In addition to NC State's Forests & Facilties, much of our watershed hydrology research is conducted on-campus in laboratories maintained by the College of Natural Resources, the Department of Zoology or the School of Veterinarian Science. These resources are augmented by outstanding field facilities such as the Pamlico Aquaculture Field Laboratory; research and extension centers in Eastern and Western N.C.; NC State’s Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology; The Center for Marine Sciences and Technology in Morehead City; and facilities operated by various state and federal agencies or private organizations.
