MORALES LAB UC Davis
Verónica L. Morales
My work is driven by interest in unveiling emerging physico-chemical processes at the micro-scale that control macroscopic transport of contaminants in soils and groundwater. Topics I am currently interested in include:
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Microbially mediated reactions in porous media
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Fate and transport of colloids and nanoparticles in the vadose zone
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Preferential flow through porous media
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Interactions between pore-space structure and macroscopic transport
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Biochar engineering
Education
2008 - 2011 PhD Biological & Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, US (Adv. Tammo S Steenhuis)
2005 - 2007 MSc Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, US (Adv. Tammo S Steenhuis)
2000 - 2004 BSc Environmental Science at Univeristy of California at Santa Barbara, CA, US
2000 - 2004 BA Spanish Literature at University of California at Santa Barbara, CA, US
2002 - 2003 Study Abroad at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, SP
Professional Experience
2021 - present Associate Professor - Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, US
2017 - 2021 Assistant Professor - Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, US
2017 - present. CAMPOS Faculty Scholar, University of California, Davis
2014 - 2016 AXA Research Fund Post-doc Fellow at IfU - Environmental Fluid Mechanics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, CH
2011 - 2014 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow Post-doc at SIMBIOS Centre, University of Abertay, Dundee, UK
and IfU - Groundwater & Hydromechanics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, CH
2012 Visiting Scientist at College of Agriculture and Life Sciences/KAUST-CU Centre, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY, US
2012 Visiting Lecturer at Dept. Plant Biology and Soil Science, University of Vigo, Ourense, ES
2010 Course Instructor at Cornell Prison Education Program, Auburn Correctional Facility, Auburn, NY, US
2005 - 2005 Research Assistant at Dept. Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California at Davis, Vandenberg,
CA, US
2003 - 2004 Undergraduate Research Assistant at Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research, Goleta, CA, US
Grant Support
2024 BARD: Tillage-Induced Soil Structure and Water Saturation Impact of Porewater Redox Conditions: Controls for
Nutrient Availability and Water Quality. (PI, 300,000 USD)
2024 NSF-Hydrologic Sciences: Investigating Hyporheic Zone Reaction Enhancement by Bioclogging Across Scales. (Co-
PI, 688,000 USD)
2023 USDA-Agricultural Research Service: Nonequilibrium Processes Influencing Contaminant Fate During Managed
Aquifer Recharge. (PI, 150,000 USD)
2022 EMSL PNNL Large-Scale Proposal: Advancing Micromodel and Imaging Capability to Detect Hotspots in The
Hyporheic Zone Y2. (Co-PI, 750 resource hours)
2021 EMSL PNNL Large-Scale Proposal: Advancing Micromodel and Imaging Capability to Detect Hotspots in The
Hyporheic Zone Y1. (Co-PI, 450 resource hours)
2020 University of California COVID-Impacted Research Funding Program: Nanoparticle Filtration in Agricultural Soils.
(PI, 41,675 USD)
2020 NSF-CBBG Proposal Y6-7: Enabling In Situ Manganese Biomineralization in Granual Media. (Co-PI, 185,768 USD)
2019 Hellman Fellowship Program: Pore-Structural Features of Aquifers That Control Engineered Nanomaterial
Spreading in Groundwater. (PI, 19,500 USD)
2019 NSF CAREER: Fundamental Controls of Transport Attributes from Porous Media Microstructure. (PI, 500,000 USD)
2018 ACS Petroleum Research Fund: Predicting Degree of Preferential Flow in Porous Media From Pore-Network
2018 New Research Initiatives: Predicting the Flow in Porous Media from Its Pore Network Structure. (PI, 23,133 USD)
2018 Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network: Transport Processes of Engineered Nano-Contaminants in Structurally
Complex Agricultural Soils. (PI, 10,000 USD)
2014 - 2016 AXA Research Fund: Dynamics of Particle Re-mobilization In Porous Media by Chemical and Physical
Perturbations. (PI, 120,000 EUR)
2014 Graduate Women in Science - Eloise Gerry Fellowship: Understanding Environmental Disturbances That Release
Colloids and Nanoparticles from Contaminated Soils. (PI, 5,028 USD)
2012 - 2014 Marie Curie-International Incoming Fellowships: Effect of Soil Architecture on Transport and
Retention of Silver Nano-Litter. (PI, 200,371 EUR)
2012 Royal Society of Edinburgh: Mechanisms of Reversible Microbial Attachment Onto Vegetable Surfaces. (co-PI, 1,600
GBP)
Awards & Honors
2024 Orlob Endowed Chair in Water Resources Engineering
2020 AGU Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award
2019 UC Davis Hellman Fellow
2016 Communicate Your Science Video Competition Finalist, European Geophysical Union General Assembly
2014 Participating researcher in the United Kingdom Research Excellence Framework
2012 Subvention for the Mobility of Visiting Professors by Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
2011 Facilitating Creative Chances. Project Unicorn
2010 Best poster award at International Conference and Exploratory Workshop on Soil Architecture and Physico-
Chemical Functions
2010 Teresa & H. John Heinz III Foundation: Dissertation Award
2009 Carl Storm Scholarship, Gordon Research Conference
2008 Water quality graduate student scholarship. NG Kaul Memorial Scholarship
2008, 2006 Engineering Learning Initiative, Cornell University
2006 Community Partnership Board Grant, Cornell University
2005 - 2008 Graduate student fellowship. Cornell-Sloan Fellowship
Research Summary
Total publications: 37 peer-reviewed articles (7 first-author publications), 2 technical reports, 1 book chapter
Total citations: 1833 (ResearcherID/Publons), 2639 (Google scholar). H-index: 25
More than 47 talks given; 29 invited seminars; 18 conference talks; 11 poster contributions
Mentoring: 5 postdocs, 11 PhD, 15 Masters, 17 undergraduate assistants, 2 high-schoolers
