News Release, Kansas Geological Survey, Nov. 23, 2009
LAWRENCE--A groundwater specialist at the Kansas Geological Survey, based at the University of Kansas, has been elected to the board of directors of a professional division of the National Ground Water Association.
Jim Butler, Survey senior scientist and Chief of the Geohydrology Section, was chosen to serve a two-year term on the board of the Association of Ground Water Scientists and Engineers (AGWSE).
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." Earlier this year Butler was the recipient of the 2009 Pioneers in Groundwater Award of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The National Ground Water Association is a top-ranking organization for anyone affiliated with the ground-water industry and has more than 12,000 members. AGWSE, the association's largest division, has a membership of approximately 8,000 scientists and engineers.