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Phil Gerla
© TNC

Philip Gerla, Ph.D.

Aquatic Ecologist/Hydrologist

Philip J. Gerla works part-time for The Nature Conservancy as a hydrologist in the Northern Tallgrass Prairie ecoregion. His research advances the Conservancy’s mission through the development of conservation action plans, coupled with efforts to understand, enhance and protect aquatic biodiversity in prairie wetlands, streams and rivers. In addition, he is an associate professor in the University of North Dakota's Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, where he began teaching and conducting research in 1988. Before arriving at UND, Dr. Gerla worked for an engineering-environmental consulting firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he managed projects related to landfills, underground storage tanks and environmental site assessments. Dr. Gerla holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, an M.S. from the University of New Hampshire, and a B.S. from Oregon State University. Although his educational background primarily is in geology, his interests have increasingly moved toward hydrology during the last 20 years. Dr. Gerla's current research examines the interaction of groundwater and surface water, with results reported in several peer-reviewed journals, including Wetlands, Hydrological Processes and Ground Water. Recent work, soon to be published in Restoration Ecology, includes a geographic information system and modeling-based analysis of the effect that conversion of cropland to grassland has on storm runoff and flood mitigation.

Feature Project

The Conservancy needs to work with both private and government owners of adjacent land to assure protection of both the quality and quantity of water that flows to the springs at Pigeon Point. There are three research objectives:

• define the areas above the springs where precipitation infiltrates to become groundwater
• evaluate the water budget in the springs to determine sources and sinks of water
• characterize how the mineralization of the water develops under varying conditions of land cover and use