Luke Pangle
Associate Professor Geosciences- Education
Ph.D. in Water Resources Science, Oregon State University
M.S. in Forest Resources, University of Georgia
B.S. in Environmental Studies, Elon University
- Specializations
Vadose-Zone and Groundwater Hydrology
Hydrology of Urban Watersheds
Applications of Chemical Tracers in Hydrology
- Biography
I am a first-generation college graduate, having earned (with honors) an interdisciplinary degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Biology from Elon University in 2003. I earned a M.S. degree in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia in 2006, with research focused on forest ecology and tree physiology. Subsequently I worked as a research associate at Duke University for 1.5 years, where a project examining water use by trees really piqued my interest in subsurface hydrology. I completed a Ph.D. in Water Resources Science at Oregon State University in 2013, with core training in vadose-zone and groundwater hydrology. I worked as a post-doctoral research scientist at the University of Arizona for 2.5 years before joining the faculty at Georgia State University in 2016. I am also a Certified Professional Hydrologist with the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH).
As might be suggested by topically-varied degrees, I enjoy working with interdisciplinary teams on problem-forward research. Past and current research foci have included (1) novel experimentation and applications of tracers to reveal dynamic water-residence-time distributions in vadose-zone and shallow groundwater flow, (2) groundwater extraction by riparian trees and its impact on streamflow dynamics, (3) interactions between shallow aquifers and human infrastructure (e.g., sewer pipe networks) in urban watersheds, and (4) flow, water residence time, and solute chemistry in urban streams as modulated by beaver dams and human-built storm-water retention ponds. My research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and USGS Georgia Water Science Center.
I teach cross-listed (undergraduate and graduate combined) courses in Groundwater Hydrology (GEOL/GEOS 4010/6010), Urban Hydrology (GEOL/GEOS 4246/6245), Measurement Techniques in Hydrology (GEOL 4125/GEOS 6125), and a graduate-level course in Applications of Chemical Tracers in Hydrology (GEOS 6009). I also teach Introduction to Landforms for non-majors (GEOG 1113).
- Publications
Representative Publications
- Diem, J.E., Carlton, D.K., and Pangle, L.A., 2023, Evapotranspiration from developed land and urban watersheds in a humid subtropical climate, Water Resources Research, 59. doi: 10.1029/2023WR035276.
- Diem, J.E., Pangle, L.A., Milligan, R., and Adams, E., 2022, How much water is stolen by sewers? Estimating watershed-level inflow and infiltration throughout a metropolitan area, Journal of Hydrology, 614.
- Pangle, L.A., Diem, J.E., Milligan, R., Adams, E., Murray, A.D., 2022, Contextualizing inflow and infiltration within the streamflow regime of urban watersheds, Water Resources Research, 58(1), https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030406.
- Diem, J.E., Pangle, L.A., Milligan, R., Adams, E., 2021. Intra-annual variability of urban effects on streamflow, Hydrological Processes, 35(9), https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14371
- Radolinski, J., Pangle, L.A., Klaus, J., Stewart, R.D., 2021. Testing the “Two Water Worlds” hypothesis under variable preferential flow conditions, Hydrological Processes, 35(6), https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14252
- Pangle, L.A., Kim, M., Cardoso, C., Lora, M., Wang, Y., Volkmann, T.H., Troch, P.A., and C.J. Harman, 2017, The mechanistic basis for storage-dependent age distributions of water discharged from an experimental hillslope, Water Resources Research 53(4) 2733-2754, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR019901
- Kim, M., Pangle, L.A., Cardoso, C., Lora, M., Wang, Y., Harman, C.J., and P.A. Troch, 2016, Transit time distributions and StorAge Selection functions in a sloping soil lysimeter with time-varying flow paths: Direct observation of internal and external transport variability, Water Resources Research 52(9) 7105-7129. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR018620
Funded Grants
- 2024 - Anthropogenic Alteration of the Urban Critical Zone and the Effects On Solute Chemistry in Urban Streams, NSF ORE-CZ 2423066. PI: Luke Pangle, Co-PI: Sarah Ledford. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2423066&HistoricalAwards=false
- 2022 - Broadening Participation in (sub)Urban Watershed Science in the Southeast, U.S. Department of Energy. PI: Sarah Ledford. Co-PI's: Luke Pangle, Richard Milligan, and Nadine Kabengi.
- 2020 - Conceptualizing and Quantifying the Function of Beaver Dams and Stormwater Ponds on the Hydrology and Biogeochemistry of Urban Streams, NSF Hydrological Sciences 2024411. PI: Sarah Ledford. Co-PI's: Luke Pangle, Elizabeth Sudduth (Gwinnett College), Sandra Clinton (UNC-Charlotte), and Diego Riveros-Iregui (UNC-Chapel Hill). https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2024411&HistoricalAwards=false
- 2019 - Analyzing the Magnitude, Variability, and Governance of Infrastructure-Mediated Flows in Urban Watersheds, NSF GSS 1853809. PI: Luke Pangle. Co-PI's: Jeremy Diem, Richard Milligan, and Ellis Adams (Notre Dame). https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1853809&HistoricalAwards=false