Abe Springer

Professor gets Fulbright to study springs
in Canada

The flow of water above and below ground has always fascinated Abe Springer, who will spend the fall 2007 semester researching spring ecosystems in Canada.

Springer, an associate professor in geology and coordinator for NAU's Arizona Water Institute, was chosen to serve as a Fulbright Visiting Chair in Water and the Environment in Canada.

Springer will be hosted by the University of Lethbridge in Alberta and will work on his project, "The Ecohydrology of Springs in Western Canada," at the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Water Resources.

"My project is aimed at protecting and restoring spring ecosystems," Springer said. "I will work with other researchers to develop ways to measure and track the natural diversity of life at springs ecosystems and how the water moves above and below ground."

The research position will include some lecturing, but most of Springer's time and expertise will be put to work discovering and analyzing how the diverse geology, biology, aquatic invertebrate species and human impact affects flowing springs.

He said the research complements the long-term studies with colleagues at NAU to inventory, classify, assess, monitor and restore spring ecosystems.

"I also will compile existing comprehensive spring ecosystem inventory databases in Alberta and nearby western Canadian provinces," Springer added.

Springer's data will be used for comparison studies with data that exists for spring sources in Florida, Texas, Wisconsin and California.

Springer became interested in studying the science of water while working on his thesis analysis of the groundwater supply for the city of Wooster in Ohio.

He received his bachelor's and master's degree in geology from the College of Wooster and his doctoral degree in geology from Ohio State University.