: : vita : : | Kamini Singha

Kamini Singha

311E Berthoud Hall, 1516 Illinois St, Golden, CO 80401 phone: +1 303.273.3822 email: ksingha@mines.edu

Professional Experience

2024-present – Mines Presidential Faculty Fellow for Faculty Success and Leadership Development
2022-present – University Distinguished Professor, Colorado School of Mines
2020-present – Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Earth and Society Programs , Colorado School of Mines
2016-present – Professor, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering (with courtesy joint appointments in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Geophysics), Colorado School of Mines
2016-2019 – Associate Department Head, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
2018 – Interim Director, Hydrologic Science and Engineering Program, Colorado School of Mines
2014-2017 – Associate Director, Hydrologic Science and Engineering Program, Colorado School of Mines
2012-2016 – Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
2011-2012 – Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University
2005-2012 – Associate, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University
2005-2011 – Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University
2003-2004 – Lecturer, Department of Geophysics, Stanford University
2003-2004 – Instructor, Outdoor Education Program, Stanford University
1997-2000 – Student Trainee, Hydrology, Hydrogeophysics Branch, U.S. Geological Survey

Education

PhD – 2005 in Hydrogeology from Stanford University
BSc – 1999 with Honors in Geophysics from University of Connecticut

Research Interests

General

groundwater hydrology
environmental geophysics/hydrogeophysics
watershed hydrology
critical zone science

Specific

physical processes controlling solute and contaminant mass transport
integration of geophysical imaging with flow and transport modeling
groundwater at interfaces, including groundwater-surface water exchange (see a video from our 2016 CUAHSI workshop) and groundwater-evapotranspiration connections (see a video about critical zone science)

a little bit about me and my research in written and podcast form
details on current and previously funded research
current student projects

Community Awards and Honors

2024 – Fellow, American Geophysical Union
2024 – Society of Exploration Geophysicists Near Surface Global Lecturer
2023 – CUAHSI Biennial Florence Bascom Lecturer
2022 – American Geophysical Union Paul A. Witherspoon Lecturer
2022 – Society of Exploration Geophysicists Reginald Fessenden Award
2019 – Fulbright Scholar (Ireland)
2018 – Fellow, Geological Society of America
2017 – Society of Exploration Geophysicists Women’s Network Committee’s Pioneer in Geophysics
2017 – The National Ground Water Association Darcy Lecturer
2009 – Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society/Geonics Early Career Award
2008 – National Science Foundation CAREER Award (5 years)
2000 – STAR Fellow, Environmental Protection Agency (3 years)

University-Level Awards and Fellowships

2024 – Visiting Professor, Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability
2022 – Outstanding Faculty Member as chosen by the Geology & Geological Engineering graduating seniors, Colorado School of Mines
2019 – Colorado School of Mines W. M. Keck Mentorship Award
2019 – Colorado School of Mines Faculty Senate Distinguished Lecturer
2019 – Visiting International Research Fellowship, Flinders University, Australia
2018 – Gallagher Fellow, University of Calgary, Canada
2017 – Ben Fryrear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence at the Colorado School of Mines (3 years)
2017 – Colorado School of Mines Faculty Excellence Award
2014 – Outstanding Faculty Member in the Colorado School of Mines Hydrologic Science and Engineering Program
2014 – Faculty Fellow, McBride Honors Program, Colorado School of Mines
2012 – Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching
2011 – Penn State George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching
2008 – Research Fellow, Institut de Géophysique, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland (2 years)
2007 – Faculty Fellow, Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development in Africa (AESEDA), Penn State (3 years)
1999 – Cecil Green Fellow, Geophysics Department, Stanford University
1999 – Outstanding Woman Student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut
1999 – John B. Lucke Award for Outstanding Geology Student, University of Connecticut
1995 – Presidential Scholar, University of Connecticut (4 years)

Paper and Presentation Awards

2025 – One of the top 10% most-viewed papers in Water Resources Research in 2024 for Warix et al. (2023)
2024 – Hydrological Processes Editor’s Choice Award for Warix et al. (2024)
2024 – Water Resources Research Editor’s Choice Award for Burns et al. (2023)
2024 – One of the top 5 most-read papers in Water Resources Research in 2023 for Foroumandi et al. (2023)
2022 – Top Ten SSRN Downloaded Paper for Gonzalez-Pinzon et al. (2022)
2022 – Wiley Top Cited Paper for Ader et al. (2021)
2022 – Wiley Top Cited Paper for Singha and Navarre-Sitchler (2021) (also a Top Downloaded Paper)
2015 – “Top 31” Presentation (out of ~1100) from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists Annual Meeting
2013 – Water Resources Research Editor’s Choice Award for Ward et al. (2012)
2004 – Best Oral Presentation, School of Earth Sciences Research Review, Stanford University
2003 – Outstanding Student Paper, Hydrology Section, Fall AGU Meeting

Participation in Career Development and Training

2025 – Google Project Management Professional Program (audited 142-hr, 6 course series)
2024 – The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Women Leading Change Program
2022 – Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science Women in STEM Leadership Program
2022 – Accessibility Course for Education, Colorado School of Mines
2021 – Colorado School of Mines Leadership Academy
2020 – Advocacy & Water Protection in Native California Certificate Program, Humboldt State University Department of Native American Studies
2020 – Engineering and Facilitating Online Learning, Colorado School of Mines
2019 – Open Educational Resources OER@Mines Champion Certificate Program, Colorado School of Mines
2019 – Geoscience Congressional Visits Days (also in 2020)
2016 – Harvard University’s Management Development Program
2006 – National Association of Geoscience Teachers’ Early Career Faculty Workshop
2005 – National Association of Geoscience Teachers’ Teaching Hydrogeology in the 21st Century Workshop
Wilderness First Responder (current certification through 7/2025)

Teaching

GEGN 466/566 – Groundwater Engineering (Fall)
GEGN 584 – Field Methods in Hydrology (Fall)
GEGN 532 – Geological Data Analysis (Spring)
HNRS 450A – Water, Energy, and the West (taught previously) Covered in the Denver Post!

Recent Research Papers

(+=undergraduate student author, *=graduate student author, #=postdoc author; click here for full list and pdfs)

Tague, C.N., Barnard, H.R., Harpold, A.A., Heckman, C.J., Johnson, K., Knowles, J.F., Lininger, K.B., Lowman, L.E.L., Parrish, E., Navarre-Sitchler, A.S., Singha, K., Sullivan, P.L., and Warix, S. (submitted). Dynamic water storage shapes critical zone function. Submitted to Hydrological Processes.
Warix, S.R.*, Navarre-Sitchler, A. and Singha, K. (submitted). Climate perturbation impacts watershed solute production. Submitted to Earth’s Future.
Guthrie, A.V.*, Hirmas, D.R., Sullivan, P.L, Li, L., Ajami, H., Singha, K., Flores, A.N., Wen, H.#, Rudick A., Billings, S.A. (submitted). Deep root loss and regeneration in the Anthropocene drive continental-scale changes in deep soil structure. Submitted to Earth’s Future.
Jarecke, K.M.#, Keen, R.M.#, Singha, K., Nippert, J., Sadayappan, K.*, Billings, S., Hirmas, D., Li, B.*, Kirk, M., Ajami, H., Dumont, M.#, Flores, A., Sullivan, P. (submitted). Woody encroachment intensifies deep soil drying at daily, seasonal, and decadal scales. Submitted to Ecosystems.
Han, Z.*, Kang, X.#, Singha, K., Qiang, S., Liu, X., Wu, J., and Shi, X. (submitted). Adaptive multi-objective optimization for real-time monitoring of rapid tracer transport using electrical resistivity tomography: balancing spatial and temporal resolution. Submitted to Water Resources Research.
Zhang, Z.*, Guan, H., Veneklaas, E., Singha, K., and Batelaan, O. (submitted). Seasonal plasticity of whole-plant hydraulic properties using sap-flow and stem water-potential monitoring. Submitted to Hydrology and Earth System Sciences.
Zhang, X.#, Sawyer, A.H., Singha, K., and Wohl, E. (in revision). Exploring the influence of morphologic heterogeneity and discharge on transient storage in stream systems: 2. Insights from numerical models. Submitted to Water Resources Research.
Kerins, D.*, Knapp, A.S.*, Liu, F.S.*, Smykalov, V.D.*, Berzonsky, M.P.*, Vierbircher, A.*, Saydayappan, K.*, Stewart, B.*, Andrews, E.M.#, Sullivan, P., Barnard, H., Seibert. J., McPhillips, L., Singha, K., Li, L. (2025). Controls from above and below: snow, soil, and steepness drive diverging trends of subsurface water and streamflow dynamics. Hydrological Processes, doi: 10.1002/hyp.70120.
Gambill, I.*, Marshall, A.*, Benson, D.A., McFadden, S.*, Navarre-Sitchler, A., Wohl, E., and Singha, K. (2025). Exploring the influence of morphologic heterogeneity and discharge on transient storage in stream systems: 1. Insights from the field. Water Resources Research, doi: 10.1029/2023WR036031.

published papers from 2024 and earlier

Recent Abstracts

(+=undergraduate student author, *=graduate student author, #=postdoc author)

Adebayo, M.B.*, Dumont, M.#, Rathore, S., Painter, S., Herndon, E., Pierce, E., Singha, K. (2025). Quantifying surface-subsurface water fluxes in an intermittent stream using self-potential measurements and a coupled hydrological-electrical flow model. SEG IMAGE 2025, Houston, TX, 25-28 August.
Jarecke, K.M.#, Hornslein, N., Callahan, R.P., Dumont, M.#, Kusold, K., Post-Leon, A.C., Fickle, J.C., Yilangai, R.*, Hawkins, L.R., Sullivan, P.L., Singha, K., Barnard, H.R. (2025). Connecting deep critical zone structure to tree water use and functional traits. Creating Synthesis out of Complexity in Catchment Science Gordon Research Conference, Andover, NH, 22-27 June.
Mayernik, C.M.#, Sprenger, M., Li, B.#, Billings, S.A., Keen, R.M.#, Unruh, M.*, Jarecke, K.M.#, Hirmas, D.R., Ajami, H., Flores, A., Nippert, J.B., Singha, K., Li, L., Sullivan, P.L. (2025). Investigating how the generation of preferential flow regulates depth distributions of soil organic carbon by synthesizing observations across different climates, land uses, and soil types. Creating Synthesis out of Complexity in Catchment Science Gordon Research Conference, Andover, NH, 22-27 June.
Jougnot, D., Loiseau, B.*, Singha, K., Delpierre, N., Guérin, R., Clément, R., Champollion, C., Doussan, C., Martin-St.Paul, N. and Carrière, S. (2025). Unveiling the forest subsurface and its invisible water, what can geophysics bring to forest ecohydrology. EGU Annual Meeting, Vienna, 27 April–2 May.
Fries, E.#, Singha, K., Illangasekare, T. and Higgins, C. (2025). How macroporous soil heterogeneities influence the transport and retention of PFASs in the vadose zone: a controlled laboratory study. EGU Annual Meeting, Vienna, 27 April–2 May.
Illangasekare, T., Naik, A.P.#, Fries, E.#, Higgins, C. and Singha, K. (2025). Study of PFAS transport and retention in heterogeneous and disturbed vadose zone soils. InterPore-Australia, Sydney, 28-31 January. Invited.

abstracts from 2024 and earlier

Recent Invited Talks

2025

2024

2023

University of California-Los Angeles Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Seminar
Critical Interface Network (CINet) Junior Scientist Council Seminar Series (online)
Critical Zone Collaborative Network Research Experience for Undergraduates Frontiers Seminar (online)
CUAHSI Biennial Florence Bascom Lecture
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute – University of Denver
Critical Zone Geomicrobiology Network: Leveraging and Expanding Critical Zone Science (online)
Moos Family Speaker Series in Water Resources, Freshwater Society/University of Minnesota, College of Biological Sciences (online)
Central Connecticut State University Department of Geological Sciences
Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ Women’s Network Webinar (online)
Northern Illinois Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment Colloquium (online)

2022

AGU Paul A. Witherspoon Lecture
Mines Global Energy Future Innovation Forum
AGU Frontiers in Hydrology Meeting
Arizona State University Hydrosystems Seminar (online)
L’Unité Mixte de Recherche METIS, Sorbonne Université, France (online)
University of Arkansas Department of Geosciences (online)
University of Delhi Society of Exploration Geophysicists Chapter, India (online)

2021

University of Iowa Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (online)
Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment (online)
University of Utah Department of Geology and Geophysics (online)
University of Northern Colorado Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science (online)
National Geophysical Research Institute, India (online)
Shandong University School of Civil Engineering, China (online)
Women Advancing River Research Seminar Series (online)
Wyoming Geophysical Society (online)
University of Waterloo Water Institute WaterTalks, Canada (online)

invited talks from 2020 and earlier

Selected Service

Participant, AGU Local Science Partners (2022-present)
Editor, Water Resources Research (2021-present)
Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (2021-present)
Member of the Expert Advisory and Evaluation Panel for the NSF-funded Characterization and Training of Spatial Skills in Hydrogeology (2020-2024)
Member of the Board of Directors, the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (2019-2024)
Invited Participant in the National Academy of Sciences Workshop on Scientific Facility Engagement (2019)
Planning Committee Member for the National Academy of Sciences Workshop on Groundwater Recharge and Flow (2018-2019)
Co-organizer (with Mike Gooseff), CUAHSI Techniques for Stream-Groundwater Investigations Workshop (2012, 2016)
Associate Editor at Water Resources Research (2012-2016), Frontiers in Water (2019-2020)
Member of the Board of Directors, Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science (CUAHSI) (2015-2017)
Member of the Colorado School of Mines Faculty Senate (2013-2016); Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate (2014-2016)