News Release, Kansas Geological Survey, May 26, 2009
LAWRENCE--A groundwater specialist at the Kansas Geological Survey, based at the University of Kansas, has received a career achievement award from an institute within the nation's oldest engineering society.
Jim Butler, Survey senior scientist and geohydrologist, is the recipient of the 2009 Pioneers in Groundwater Award from the Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He was presented the award at the annual World Environmental and Water Resources Congress in Kansas City, Missouri, in mid-May.
Butler's research includes exploring the interaction between surface water in streams and groundwater in aquifers; ways to measure the permeability of underground rocks; and the impact of water-hungry plants, such as cottonwoods, willows, and salt cedar, on water resources.
Butler is author of many scientific papers and the book "The Design, Performance, and Analysis of Slug Tests," which examines a method commonly used during the investigation of ground-water-contamination sites.
Butler has been at the Survey since 1986. He also is an Associate of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Kansas, a courtesy faculty member of the University of Kansas Department of Geology, and currently associate editor of the journals "Hydrogeology Journal" and "Ground Water."
EWRI, created to complement ASCE's traditional civil engineering base, promotes the design and construction of environmentally sound infrastructure and the sustainable use and conservation of natural resources.