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Groundwater is a vital water resource in Australia, and the world, and understanding the dynamics of recharge from and discharge to surface waterways is necessary for using our water resources wisely.

At ANU, we are developing hydrogeochemical methods to understand groundwater dynamics, including interactions between aquifer waters, surface water and groundwater. At present we focus our studies in the Lower Murrumbidgee catchment of New South Wales. There are a number of possible projects for a summer scholarship, such as interpreting element and isotope compositions of the Lower Murrumbidgee River and related groundwater, measuring the mineralogy and cation exchange capacities of aquifer and aquitard materials and interpreting the impact on groundwater compositions, and assisting in the development of new analytical methods for the geochemistry of water and regolith.

If you are interested in developing your interests and experience in groundwater and low-temperature geochemistry, please contact bear.mcphail@anu.edu.au.

The student will Be involved with the preparation and geochemical analysis of water and/or regolith samples to understand the mobility of major, minor and trace elements, including uranium, in groundwater environments. The student will also be involved with the interpretation and application of the results to bigger projects currently underway in groundwater dynamics and the fractionation of uranium isotopes.