[Enviro-lunch] Today 1/31: Tracy Mandel

[Jennifer Alvarez]

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Hello Everyone,

Please join us today for this week's Enviro-Lunch talk by Tracy Mandel, at 12-1pm in Room SE2-302



What lies beneath?

Using experimental fluid mechanics to study seagrass beds and oil spills



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Many processes in our environment are governed by physics: the seasonal overturning of a lake, the breaking of waves over coral reefs, and even the waving of wheat in a farmer’s field. In this presentation I will focus on two problems in environmental fluid mechanics, and how we study them in an idealized laboratory environment. First, I will discuss remote characterization of seagrass beds by studying the overlying water surface; and second, I will address the role of stratification and interfacial surface tension in subsurface trapping of oil spills. I will demonstrate the laboratory tools we use, and how results obtained in a tank in the lab can be applied to their associated real-world setting. Through these two case studies, I hope the audience will gain an appreciation of the utility of idealized fluid mechanics experiments in isolating, studying, and furthering our understanding of the physics of our environment.



Bio: Tracy Mandel received her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in 2012, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology from Stanford University in 2013 and 2018. She is currently a postdoctoral scholar at UC Merced in Physics and Applied Math, where her research focuses on the dynamics of oil plumes rising in stratified fluids. Her broader research interests include coastal hydrodynamics, experimental methods in fluid dynamics, ecological fluid-structure interactions, and terrestrial canopy flows. She is also an enthusiast of puns involving fluid mechanics and vegetables.



When: Today, Thursday, 12pm – 1pm



Where: SE2-302



Coffee will be provided, please bring your own mugs.



We look forward to seeing you,



Jing & Jennifer



Organizers for Spring 2019: Jing Yan and Jennifer Alvarez

Faculty coordinator: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe



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