In the Kucharik research group, Eric is working on the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) project where he leads the integration of biophysical modeling and field studies with a set of four provocative, yet plausible, scenarios of the future of the Yahara River watershed in south-central Wisconsin (yahara2070.org). He also collaborates on other WSC research – including work on shifting drivers of water quality change within the Yahara’s socio-ecological system – and participates in the ongoing effort to communicate the project’s findings to the broader community. He really enjoys his position here at UW-Madison as it balances research, mentoring, teaching, and outreach and engages complex, challenging, and societally-relevant issues in water sustainability.

Eric received his PhD in Limnology and Marine Science here at UW-Madison, with a focus on predicting wetland plant composition based on the near-surface soil moisture regime simulated using a variably-saturated groundwater flow model. He received a MS in Hydrologic Science from the University of California – Davis and a BS in Environmental Engineering from UW-Madison. A Wisconsin native, Eric grew up in Brookfield wandering the streams of the Upper Underwood Creek watershed.