LIFE Partners

LIFE brings together an international network of researchers, research groups, institutions, experimental laboratories, and field sites all dedicated to collaborating to advance sustainability and vulnerability science of the Earth’s surface environment. We emphasize that LIFE will reach a much broader international community via our summer institutes, field campaigns, short courses and workshops, but the core partners will be engaged actively in visit exchanges, organization, and development of the joint degree programs. Learn more about the core LIFE network below!

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou (Lead PI)
Director, National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics
Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Irvine, USA
Expertise: Hydrologic processes and sediment transport, coastal eco-geomorphology, stratigraphy

Chris Paola
Professor, Department of Earth Sciences
Director, National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics
Interim Director, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory
University of Minnesota, USA
Expertise: Physical sedimentation and stratigraphy

Experimental Laboratory: St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota
Unique field sites: Ganges Delta (Bangladesh), Wax Lake Delta

Vaughan Voller
Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo- Engineering
University of Minnesota, USA
Expertise: Modeling of mass transport processes, mathematical descriptions of ocean delta dynamics, non-local treatment of diffusion, numerical methods for free and moving boundary problems

Experimental Laboratory: St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota

William Dietrich
Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Expertise: Channel processes, sediment transport, and hydrodynamics of aquatic ecosystems

Unique Field Sites: Richmond Field Station, Angelo Coast Reserve

Paola Passalacqua
Professor, Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department
University of Texas, Austin, USA
Expertise: Water Resources Engineering

Unique Field Sites: Wax Lake Delta Observatory

Praveen Kumar
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
Expertise: Ecohydrology, sediment transport

Pat Hamilton
Program Director, Environmental Sciences and Earth-system Science
Science Museum of Minnesota, USA
Expertise: Future Earth exhibit, educational outreach

Vladimir Nikora
Chair in Environmental Fluid Mechanics
University of Aberdeen, UK
Expertise: Coastal hydraulics, channel processes, sediment transport,  and hydrodynamics of aquatic ecosystems

Experimental Facility: Aberdeen Open-Channel Facility (AOCF)

Liam Reinhardt
Professor, Physical Geography
University of Exeter, UK
Expertise: Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI), focusing on biodiversity science, ecological processes, hydrological processes, land use management, conservation biology, disease control. behavioural change, environmental economics, environmental law and public policy, and environmental governance and regulation

Experimental Facility: Sediment Research Facility

Francois Metivier

Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France
Expertise: Surface geochemistry and geophysics, particularly river geochemistry and morphology

Experimental Facilities and Field Sites: Geological Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFD), Observatoire de l’Erosion aux Antilles (ObsErA), French-Chinese International Associated laboratory (IAL), French network of Critical Zone Observatories (CZO)

Antonio Parodi
Project Leader
CIMA Research Foundation, Italy
Expertise: Predictability of meteorological extremes, Modeling and prediction of floods/droughts, dispersion of pollutants in hydro- and atmospheres, marine ecology

Experimental Facilities and Field Sites: EU-funded project on distributed infrastructure for hydrometeorology

Daniel Conde
Professor
Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay
Expertise: Interdisciplinary Center for Integrated Coastal Management (C-MCISur) focusing on ecosystem vulnerability and coastal sustainability
 
Experimental Facilities: A developing program of laboratories and instructional facilities that can be prototyped to the focused themes of LIFE
 
Cristian Escauriaza
Assistant Professor, Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Expertise: Interaction between hydrology, hydrodynamics and geochemistry to investigate watersheds in extreme environments. Anthropogenic impacts and stream restoration in mountain rivers

Experimental Facilities and Field Sites: Hydraulic/Fluid Mech. and Environmental/Geochemistry laboratories.  Lluta river basin in northern Chile. Maipo river basin near Santiago

Rina Schumer
Associate Research Professor, Division of Hydrologic Sciences
Desert Research Institute, USA

Expertise: Hydrology/hydrogeology, stochastic processes, extreme value theory, transport processes, statistical hydrology, stratigraphy, use of LiDAR in geomorphology

larsen2
Laurel Larsen
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
University of California, Berkeley, USA

Expertise: Hydroecology, landscape dynamics, complex environmental systems, environmental restoration