Susan L. Brantley
Susan L. Brantley, Atherton Professor and Evan Pugh University Professor Emerita of Geosciences, investigates chemical, biological, and physical processes associated with the circulation of aqueous fluids in shallow hydrogeologic settings. She is particularly interested in the critical zone – the zone from the top of vegetation canopy to groundwater. Investigations incorporate field and laboratory work, and theoretical modelling of observations. Of particular interest are questions concerning the measurement and prediction of the rates of natural processes, including chemical weathering with and without micro-organisms. Recent work has focused on the effect of microbial life on mineral reactivity and measuring and modelling how rock turns into regolith.