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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, 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 Projects Dr. Gerla is collaborating with theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to begin construction on a retrofit of a county ditch at the Conservancy's Glacial Ridge Project. The main goal of the project, funded in large part by the USFWS Environmental Contaminants Program, is to enhance habitat, increase native biological diversity and improve water quality while maintaining ditch function. The work is part of a plan to restore hydrology and habitat across 24,000 acres in the Agassiz Beach Ridges landscape of Minnesota. Through funding and cooperative agreements with several partners, the Conservancy will seed the area with a mixture of native tallgrass prairie and wetland species. In addition, students from the University of Minnesota-Crookston and the University of North Dakota will help transplant thousands of plugs of native wetland plants to a new stream bench and banks. 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 |
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Copyright
2009
The Nature Conservancy
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