Evan A. Variano Research Group

University of California, Berkeley

How does turbulence control transport and mixing of solutes and gases in environmental flows at laboratory and field scales? The group develops cutting-edge experimental imaging techniques to measure turbulence and solute transport in laboratory and field settings. Researchers measure gas and aerosol fluxes at interfaces and study flow-structure interaction for free-floating or loosely anchored structures to understand transport in wetlands and sediment suspensions. The group applies measurements to management questions, for example wetland strategies to control greenhouse-gas emissions. Experiments emphasize dense-vegetation and sediment suspension imaging to improve models for environmental engineering decisions.