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Alan Fryar

Research Interests:
hydrogeology
Low temperature Geochemistry
Education

Ph.D., University of Alberta, 1992

Research

Alan Fryar's interests span hydrogeology and environmental geochemistry. Areas of emphasis include delineating rates and sources of groundwater recharge and discharge; interactions of groundwater and surface water; chemical evolution during groundwater recharge and flow; natural attenuation of contaminants; and water-resource issues in developing countries. Research projects with students have included controls on the composition of groundwater in regional sedimentary aquifers; responses of karst springs to recharge; bacterial transport in karst spring basins; groundwater discharge to streams; and the fate of trichloroethene, a common solvent and suspected carcinogen, in geologic media. These projects have been supported by state and Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Science Foundation, as well as by UK. Student research typically includes a combination of field work, laboratory analyses, and mathematical modeling, and involves collaboration with other researchers at UK and elsewhere. Students commonly take courses not only in Earth and Environmental Sciences, but also in related fields, such as Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Plant and Soil Science. Former students have found work with consulting firms, with government agencies, and as university faculty and staff.

Selected Publications:

*Dapkus, R.T., **Fryar, A.E., Tobin, B.W., Byrne, D.M., Sarker, S.K., Bettel, L., and Fox, J.F., 2023, Utilization of tryptophan-like fluorescence as a proxy for E. coli contamination in a mixed-land-use karst basin: Hydrology, v. 10, no. 4, article 74.

*Sarker, S.K., Zhu, J., **Fryar, A.E., and Jeelani, G., 2023, Hydrological functioning and water availability in a Himalayan karst basin under climate change: Sustainability, v. 15, article 8666.

*Sarker, S., and **Fryar, A.E., 2022, Characterizing hydrological functioning of three large karst springs in the Salem Plateau, Missouri, USA: Hydrology, v. 9, no. 6, article 96.

**Fryar, A.E., Schreiber, M.E., Pholkern, K., Srisuk, K., and Ziegler, B.A., 2021, Variability in groundwater flow and chemistry in the Mekong River alluvial aquifer (Thailand): implications for arsenic and manganese occurrence: Environmental Earth Sciences, v. 80, no. 6, article 225.

*Tripathi, G.N., **Fryar, A.E., Hampson, S.K., and *Mukherjee, A., 2021, Seasonal to decadal variability in focused groundwater and contaminant discharge along a channelized stream: Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation, v. 41, no. 1, p. 32–45.

(* indicates student author; **indicates corresponding author)