Welcome to the Watershed Hydrology Lab at the University of Wyoming!
I am interested in how watershed structure (e.g. topography and vegetation) and climatic variability influence various metrics of watershed hydrologic response of natural and anthropogenically altered landscapes. My research to date has focused on streamflow dynamics, the spatial distribution of water stored in a watershed, runoff source areas, and watershed memory effects. I use field-based and modeling approaches to disentangle these relationships in both natural and disturbed environments.
I've conducted research at different natural and anthropogenically impacted sites in the US: The Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest (TCEF) in central Montana, the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in southwestern North Carolina, and more recently the mountaintop mining impacted Mud River watershed in West Virginia.
If you are interested in joining the lab, please send me an email at fnippgen@uwyo.edu.
NEWS / UPCOMING
Our latest paper on the effects of mountaintop mining on streamflow quantity and quality published in Environmental Science and Technology:
Nippgen, et al., Creating a More Perennial Problem? Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Enhances and Sustains Saline Baseflows of Appalachian Watersheds, Environmental Science & Technology, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b02288
Open position: I am currently recruiting a motivated PhD student for a project on evapotranspiration variability and potential effects on watershed storage. Part of this PhD is funded by a Wyoming NASA Space Grant. Start date would be Fall 2017 or Spring 2018. Email me if you are interested: fnippgen@uwyo.edu
Mountaintop mining in West Virginia
Contact Information
Fabian Nippgen
UWyo Watershed Hydrology Lab
University of Wyoming
Agriculture Bldg 2009
Laramie, WY 82071
(307) 766-2263