WMU hydrologist gets federal research associateship
July 2, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- A Western Michigan University hydrologist has received a Senior Research Associateship from the National Research Council that will allow him to spend the next year working on a model to improve water resource management in the Great Lakes.
Dr. Chansheng He, associate professor of geography, was one of 300 researchers chosen for the NRC's associateship program for this year. A national competition drawing nearly 1,000 applicants annually, the program awards outstanding scientists the opportunity to conduct their research at one of several federal laboratories or research organizations.
He will receive a $47,000 stipend to conduct research with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Great Lake's Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich.
He was granted the award based on his proposal to develop a new model that considers the effects of soil, topography and vegetation on watershed run-off in the Great Lakes basin. His work will expand on a model developed by Dr. Thomas Croley, a senior hydrologist at the GLERL, that simulates the water levels and hydrological processes in the Great Lakes Basin. Croley will serve as He's research advisor for the project.
"I will incorporate soil, vegetation and topographic databases and new algorithms into the model developed by Dr. Croley," He says. "From that, we'll develop a new model called the New Generation Large Basin Run-off Model, which will look at the impact these factors have on the hydrology. We plan to test it first on just one of the lakes, and then eventually it could be used for all the Great Lakes."
He, who will be on sabbatical from WMU during the 2001-02 academic year, will begin his associateship in September.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu