Dr. Kyle Strom with his research group at Baker Lab
Kelso Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory (BEHL) also known as Baker Lab is home to majority of research done by Dr. Kyle Strom and his research group. Dr. Strom leads the Fluid and Sediment dynamics research group in the Environmental and Water Resources (EWR) program at Virginia Tech. Their research focuses on improving the understanding of fluid and sediment interactions in natural environments such as rivers, estuaries, and deltas. Here is a sneak peek into the cutting edge research being done by Dr. Strom’s research group.
Brandon Dillon working with laser passing through a hydraulic flume
Brandon Dillon is investigating how turbulent eddies in a flow stack up in time and space to impart forces to a particle resting on the bed. Brandon has designed and built two novel pieces of instrumentation that will allow him to collect a unique dataset that can be used to test his mathematical theories.
Niley Iscen working with delta tank
Nilay Iscen is devising methods for shrinking down large-scale land features, such as deltas and submarine fans, in order to conduct faster investigations into their mechanics. Once the experiments are refined, she will use her methods to test her hypotheses related to how, when, and why new channels and land are built in distributive systems.
Rachel Kuprenas with computer processors
Duc Tran with mixing tank
Duc Tran and Rachel Kuprenas are working to better understand and mathematically model the growth and breakup of muddy aggregates in the water column as sediment moves through different environmental conditions in freshwater rivers, estuaries, and the ocean. This is important for predicting the movement (or non movement) of fine sediment and any nutrients or contaminants associated with the sediment through such systems.
Written by Nevetha Ramesh