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Mary C. Hill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary C. Hill
Born
Mary Catherine Hill
NationalityAmerican
Alma materB.S. Hope College

M.S. Princeton University

Ph.D. Princeton University
AwardsMember of the National Academy Engineering (2021)
Scientific career
FieldsHydrology
InstitutionsUSGS
University of Kansas
ThesisAn investigation of hydraulic conductivity estimation in a ground-water flow study of Northern Long Valley, New Jersey

Mary Catherine Hill is an American hydrologist, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the winner of the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize and of the Dooge Medal of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, a Darcy Lecturer for the National Ground Water Association, and Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America. After working for 33 years at the United States Geological Survey, she became a professor of geology at the University of Kansas.

Education and career

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Hill received her B.S. in Business Administration and Geology from Hope College, and received her masters and doctorate in civil engineering under the direction of George F. Pinder, specializing in water resources, at Princeton University in 1985.[1] Her dissertation was An investigation of hydraulic conductivity estimation in a ground-water flow study of Northern Long Valley, New Jersey.[2]

She worked for 33 years at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) before joining the geology department at the University of Kansas as a professor in 2014. She is PI on a $2.5M NSF INFEWS (Innovations at the Food, Energy, Water Nexus) program grant from 2019 to 2024. [3]

Contributions

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Much of Hill's research at the USGS concerned groundwater modeling, simulation of groundwater, and evaluation of the accuracy of groundwater simulations. At the USGS, she was one of the main developers of the MODFLOW groundwater flow simulation code. More recently, she has also studied modeling and simulation of rainwater runoff.[1]

At the University of Kansas, she established the Mary C. Hill Research Fund for Women in the Sciences to help support female junior faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.[4]

With Claire R. Tiedeman, Hill is the author of the book Effective Groundwater Model Calibration: With Analysis of Data, Sensitivities, Predictions, and Uncertainty (John Wiley & Sons, 2007).[5]

Recognition

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Hill won the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize in 2000, and was Darcy Lecturer for the National Ground Water Association in 2001. In 2005, the National Ground Water Association gave her their M. King Hubbert Award.[6] In 2015, the International Association of Hydrological Sciences awarded her the Dooge Medal.[1]

Hill is past president of the International Commission for Ground Water ICGW. She has been a Fellow of the Geological Society of America since 2003,[1] and was also elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union "for development of innovative methods for parameter estimation and sensitivity analysis in hydrologic modeling".[7]

In 2021, Hill was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering "for contributions to development and application of methods for parameter estimation and sensitivity analysis in hydrologic models".[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Savijne, Hubert (2015), Citation for Professor Mary C. Hill, at the awarding of the Dooge Medal 2015, International Association of Hydrological Sciences, retrieved 2019-09-02
  2. ^ Entry for Hill's dissertation in the USGS thesis database, accessed 2019-09-02
  3. ^ "Distinguished Hydrologist Comes to KU" (PDF), The KU Geologic Record, 10: 2, September 2014[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Professor establishes research fund for women in STEM, University of Kansas, April 19, 2017, retrieved 2019-09-02
  5. ^ Reviews of Effective Groundwater Model Calibration:
  6. ^ "2005 M. King Hubbert Award Presented to Mary Hill". School of Engineering and Applied Science. 2006-04-05. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  7. ^ Fellow: Mary C. Hill, American Geophysical Union, retrieved 2019-09-02
  8. ^ "National Academy of Engineering Elects 106 Members and 23 International Members". NAE. February 9, 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
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