Kamini Singha (born 1977) is a Professor in the department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

, where she works on questions related to

hydrogeology Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in aquif ...

Early life and education

Singha was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Her father was a student at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, and her mother was a travel agent. The family moved to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

soon after Singha's birth, and she spent most of her early childhood there. When she was 12, the family relocated to

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

for her father's work. She became interested in geoscience in her senior year of high school, when a physics teacher and a family friend encouraged her to pursue a degree in

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

. Singha attended the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

and graduated with honors in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in geophysics. She went on to earn her PhD in hydrogeology from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 2005. For her dissertation, she researched inexpensive methods of observing and predicting the movement of groundwater contaminants.

Career and research

From 1997 to 2000, Singha worked at the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

Branch of Geophysics. After graduating from

, she became an assistant and then associate professor in the Department of Geosciences at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

from 2005 to 2012. During this time, Singha also served as the Chair of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

Hydrogeophysics Technical Committee from 2009 to 2012. In 2012, Singha began as an associate professor of Geology and Geological Engineering at the

. Additionally, she served as the associate director of the Hydrologic Science and Engineering Program from 2014 to 2016 and has served as the associate dean of Earth and Society Programs since 2020. Singha is known for her work in

, specifically for her research developing methods to quantifying processes controlling subsurface contaminant transport. Her other research foci include examining

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

-surface water exchange and how water infiltrates into the

vadose zone The vadose zone, also termed the unsaturated zone, is the part of Earth between the land surface and the top of the phreatic zone, the position at which the groundwater (the water in the soil's pores) is at atmospheric pressure ("vadose" is fr ...

or through fractures in the earth.

Publications

Singha has contributed widely to the field of

through research that uses

geophysical imaging Geophysical imaging (also known as geophysical tomography) is a minimally destructive geophysical technique that investigates the subsurface of a terrestrial planet. Geophysical imaging is a noninvasive imaging technique with a high parametrical a ...

to determine how water move through the subsurface. Her work has explored the use of

electrical resistivity tomography Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) or electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) is a geophysical technique for imaging sub-surface structures from electrical resistivity measurements made at the surface, or by electrodes in one or more borehole ...

to observe the movement of a saline tracer between four wells and how working at the interface of

and

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

can push our knowledge of subsurface processes across multiple scales. She has received funding from the

NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...

for several of her research projects that focus on critical zone processes, including: addressing the knowledge gap on how water stored in the subsurface influences the balance between

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpi ...

and

groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in ...

; examining how river ecosystems respond to logjam disturbances, specifically in terms of how

and

surface water Surface water is water located on top of land forming terrestrial (inland) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean. The vast majority of surface water is produced by prec ...

exchange and, thus, how water quality is affected; and quantifying the role of bedrock in controlling the critical zone processes. Her most cited publications are as follows: * Binley, Andrew; Hubbard, Susan S; Huisman, Johan A; Revil, André; Robinson, David A; Singha, Kamini; Slater, Lee D (2015) The emergence of hydrogeophysics for improved understanding of subsurface processes over multiple scales. Water Resources Research, 51. *Robinson, DA; Binley, Andrew; Crook, N; Day‐Lewis, FD; Ferré, TPA; Grauch, VJS; Knight, R; Knoll, M; Lakshmi, V; Miller, R; Nyquist, J; Pellerin, L; Singha, K; Slater, L (2008) Advancing process‐based watershed hydrological research using near‐surface geophysics: A vision for, and review of, electrical and magnetic geophysical methods. Hydrological Processes: An International Journal, 22, 3604–3635. * Day‐Lewis, Frederick D; Singha, Kamini; Binley, Andrew M (2005) Applying petrophysical models to radar travel time and electrical resistivity tomograms: Resolution‐dependent limitations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 110. * Singha, Kamini; Gorelick, Steven M (2005) Saline tracer visualized with three‐dimensional electrical resistivity tomography: Field‐scale spatial moment analysis. Water Resources Research, 41. * Tschakert, Petra; Singha, Kamini (2007) Contaminated identities: Mercury and marginalization in Ghana's artisanal mining sector. Geoforum, 38.

Outreach

Singha also pursues a number of community outreach initiatives. Since 2014, Singha worked as a research mentor at Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students (RESESS), an organization working to provide undergraduate students research opportunities and support, specifically students from underrepresented groups in the geosciences. She also started a program called Mining for Talent at

. The program, funded by the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

, provides high school students from

Alameda International Junior/Senior High School Alameda International Junior/Senior High School is located at 1255 S. Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood, Colorado The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United St ...

the opportunity to learn more about geoscience and visit a college campus.

Awards and honors

* Awarded a National Science Foundation

CAREER Award The National Science Foundation CAREER awards, presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF), are in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors i ...

(2008) * Awarded the

Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society The Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS) is an international, applied scientific organization (not-for-profit corporation) that has 700 members. One of the society’s major activities is producing its annual meeting, the Appli ...

/Geonics Early Career Award (2009) * Awarded the

George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching (2011) * Awarded the Pennsylvania State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching (2012) * Selected to be a National Groundwater Association Darcy Lecturer (2017) * Named the Ben Fryear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence at

(2017) * Awarded the

Dean's Faculty Excellence Award (2017) * Named the Society of Exploration Geophysicists Women's Network Committee's Pioneer in Geophysics (2017) * Named a fellow at the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...

(2018) *Named a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

(2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singha, Kamini 1977 births Living people American women geologists Date of birth missing (living people) Women limnologists Stanford University alumni University of Connecticut alumni United States Geological Survey personnel Colorado School of Mines faculty American women academics 21st-century American women