Why What How
Motivated by the need to sustainably and equitably support a growing world population, we study the physical underpinnings that make the soil a habitable environment. Our research blends fundamental environmental and soil physics with agroecological and environmental applications. Inclusivity and equity are the basis for the topics we study, how we treat one another, and how we engage with our community.
Recent Publications
Physics-informed neural networks with monotocnicity constraints for Richardson-Richards equation--Estimation of constitutive relationships and soil water flux density from volumetric water content measurements.
Bandai, T. and T.A. Ghezzehei
Water Resources Research, 57(2), e2020WR027642, 2021.
Published on February 01, 2021
Updates & News
Nitrogen Management Grant
New grant from California Dept. of Agriculture, Fertilizer Research & Education Program to test a novel nitrogen management strategy at Kearney Fied Station.
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Our lab at 2021 SSSA Meeting
Toshi and Yulissa represented our lab and presented their research results at the Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, in Salk Lake City.
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New USDA Water Grant
Our lab is part of a new grant for securing a climate resilient water future for agriculture & ecosystems through innovations in measurement, management & markets.
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NSF Training Grant
New training grant on Convergence of Nano-engineered Devices for Environmental and Sustainable Applications
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UC-HBCU Grant
Our Boosting Representation of African-Americans in the Geosciences (BRAAG) proposal funded
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UFWH Best Poster Award
Touyee Thao's poster at the 2021 Universities Fighting World Hungder Symposium UFWH2021 was selected as one of four best posters.
Read MoreAreas of Interest
Flow & Transport
Dynamic soil properties, such aggregation and disaggregation cycles and tilagge, and associated effects on flow and tranport in soils.
Machine Learning & AI
Physics-informed Neural Networks for modeling soil water dynamics and application of Machine Learning in soil and environmental problems.
Hydro-Biogeochem
Physical factors that control biogeochemical processes including effects of soil structure and wetting-drying cycles on soil respiration.
AgroEcology
Conservation tillage, inter-cropping of native shrubs and food crops, and applications of organic amendments on water and nutrient use efficiency.
Courses
ESS 110 Hydrology & Climate
Basics of the hydrological cycle and the global climate system. Fundamentals of surface water hydrology, hydrometeorology, evaporation, precipitation, statistical and probabilistic methods, unit hydrograph and flood routing.
ESS 112 Subsurface Hydrology
Hydrologic and geologic factors controlling the occurrence and use of groundwater on regional and local scales. Physical, mathematical, geologic and engineering concepts fundamental to subsurface hydrologic processes. Introduction to ground-water flow and transport modeling, with emphasis on model construction and simulation.
ES 228 Environmental Modeling
An advanced study of modeling environmental sciences. The first half of the course a survey of common modeling approaches of environmental phenomena. In the second half, student work on individual projects that involve modeling environmental systems or processes. Often students work on problems related to their thesis/dissertation area. (Graduate Only).
For Prospective Students
Like what you see here? We would love to hear from you if you have interest to join our lab as a student or to collaborate with us. You can find out about admission and degree requirements and offerings by visiting the websites of the Graduate Division and Environmental Systems Graduate Program (links are below).
