W. Dripps - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by W. Dripps

Research paper thumbnail of A simple daily soil–water balance model for estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge in temperate humid areas

Hydrogeology Journal, 2007

... The grid-based output can be easily imported as a recharge boundary input file for groundwate... more ... The grid-based output can be easily imported as a recharge boundary input file for groundwater flow models. Water budget components can be exported at daily, monthly, or annual time steps. All of the water budget components in the model are calculated at a daily time step. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Key competencies in sustainability in higher education – toward an agreed-upon reference framework

Sustainability Science , 2020

Hundreds of sustainability programs have emerged at universities and colleges around the world ov... more Hundreds of sustainability programs have emerged at universities and colleges around the world over the past 2 decades. A prime question for employers, students, educators, and program administrators is what competencies these programs develop in students. This study explores convergence on competencies for sustainability programs. We conducted a Delphi study with 14 international experts in sustainability education on the framework of key competencies in sustainability by Wiek et al. (Sustain Sci 6: 203–218, 2011), the most frequently cited framework to date. While experts generally agreed with the framework, they propose two additional competencies, suggest a hierarchy of competencies, and specify learning objectives for students interested in a career as sustainability researcher. The refined framework can inform program development, implementation, and evaluation to enhance employability of graduates and facilitate comparison of sustainability programs worldwide.

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of Stream Response to Storm Events Among Rural, Residential, and Commercial Watersheds Within the Piedmont Region, Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of Stream Temperatures Among Rural, Residential, and Commercial Watersheds Within the Piedmont Region, Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Assessing Global Water Scarcity

... DEKNIGHT, Brittany, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Furman University, 3300 Poinsett Hwy, G... more ... DEKNIGHT, Brittany, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Furman University, 3300 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, SC 29613, brittany.deknight@furman.edu ... 30--Booth# 5 Undergraduate Research (Posters) Hyatt Regency Savannah on the Historic Riverfront: Harborside West 8:00 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Quantifying Hydrologic Fluxes to a Small Impounded Piedmont Lake, Greenville, South Carolina

Effective lake management and restoration requires a quantitative understanding of the magnitude ... more Effective lake management and restoration requires a quantitative understanding of the magnitude and spatial and temporal variability of hydrologic fluxes within a lake's water budget. Knowledge of these fluxes allows for sustainable management of a lake as well as prompt and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Stream Temperature Dynamics and Influences in Urban Headwater Streams, Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Sustainable Collaborations: Developing and Maintaining Cross-Campus Partnerships for Sustainability Programming

Research paper thumbnail of Hydrological and Biogeochemical Dynamics of Two Riparian Corridors in Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Stream Water Chemistry During Storm Events in the Piedmont Region of South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of The Impact of Golf Courses on Stream Water Temperature

The Open Environmental & Biological Monitoring Journal

ABSTRACT Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. M... more ABSTRACT Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. Most courses contain streams that pass through the course grounds. The impact that these courses have on a stream’s aquatic ecosystem is an area of active research. Previous work has focused on the impacts of course runoff and potential non-point source pollution on stream chemistry, but significantly less work has been done on the impacts to physical characteristics like stream water temperature. In this study a comparative analysis of stream water temperature was conducted at six different golf courses in Greenville, South Carolina. Courses were selected that had continuous, tributary free and lake free reaches that passed through the golf course grounds. At each course, stream water temperature was measured at 5 minute intervals from June – November 2008 at a site upstream and downstream of the course. An Onset Water Temp Pro V2 temperature logger secured to the stream bottom was used to measure water temperature. In addition to stream temperature, a number of other parameters were assessed along the golf course stream reach including stream discharge measurements under baseflow conditions, stream length between sampling sites, the extent of riparian cover along the stream banks, and any human alterations to the stream’s channel morphology. Under baseflow conditions during the period of record, the sites downstream of the courses exhibited (1) consistently higher stream water temperatures (on the order of 4 – 10 °F during the afternoon hours) and (2) significantly larger diurnal temperature ranges (typically two to three times larger) compared to their upstream counterparts. The observed temperature differences between the up and downstream sites were primarily due to the lack of riparian cover along the golf course reaches and to a lesser extent alterations in the stream channel morphology. Temperature differences among the sites were governed by differences in stream discharge and stream length in addition to the extent of riparian cover and channel alteration. Although the impacts of these temperature modifications on the ecology, biology, and chemistry of the stream system are not known, the magnitude of the temperature change is large enough to be of potential consequence.

Research paper thumbnail of Spatial Analysis of Well Yields in Fractured Bedrock Terrains of the Piedmont of Northwestern South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Student Paper Consumption at a Liberal Arts University

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of Consumer Profiles among Farmers Markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Participants in the Upstate of South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of The Impacts of Golf Courses on Stream Water pH and Dissolved Oxygen in the Upper Piedmont, Greenville, South Carolina

Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. Most cours... more Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. Most courses contain streams that pass through the course grounds. The impact that these courses have on a stream’s aquatic ecosystem is an area of active research. Previous work has focused on the impacts of course runoff and potential non-point source pollution on stream chemistry, but significantly less work has been done on the impacts to physical characteristics like stream water pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. In this study a comparative analysis of stream water pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature was conducted at four different golf courses in Greenville, South Carolina. Courses were selected that had continuous, tributary free and lake free reaches that passed through the golf course grounds. At each course, one YSI sonde was placed just upstream of the golf course and a second was placed in the same stream just downstream of the golf course for somewhere between three to six days...

Research paper thumbnail of Furman University’s Sustainability Living Learning Communities

Furman University has had a long standing commitment to promoting engaged learning through the de... more Furman University has had a long standing commitment to promoting engaged learning through the development of academic learning experiences beyond the traditional classroom setting. As part of Furman’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, the Office of Housing and Residence Life and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences partnered and developed two sustainability living/learning communities, one comprised of a first-year experience engaged living program and the other an upperclass living learning community. The first-year experience program, the Environmental Community of Students (ECOS), now in its sixth year, consists of 12 – 15 incoming, sustainability minded, first-year students who choose to live together and take two introductory environmental classes as a cohort (An Introduction to Environmental Science course in the fall term and a First Year Seminar “Sustainability of Natural Resources” in the spring term). As designed, the program is intended to foster intere...

Research paper thumbnail of Nitrogen in urban streams: Possible sources, sinks, and transformations

In the piedmont of the southeastern United States, urbanization typically begins along the topogr... more In the piedmont of the southeastern United States, urbanization typically begins along the topographic divides between watersheds. As a result, urban areas tend to develop around the headwaters of streams, and any agricultural areas occur along downstream reaches. This pattern of urbanization is useful for understanding the impact of urbanization on stream chemistry because there are no upstream agricultural impacts. In the South Carolina piedmont, streams drain high-grade metamorphic silicate rocks resulting in dilute streams sensitive to anthropogenic effects. The goal of our study was to characterize the chemistry of streams in urban areas free of agriculture and point-source discharge. Our study area included small watersheds (15-100 km2) in the Enoree and Saluda River basins of South Carolina. We have found that solute concentrations, especially nitrate concentrations, are highest in urban headwaters and decrease downstream. The concentrations of most solutes are lower during d...

Research paper thumbnail of Urbanization and Water Quality in the South Carolina Piedmont

Expansion of urban areas often degrades water quality both chemically and biologically in river s... more Expansion of urban areas often degrades water quality both chemically and biologically in river systems. We have examined relationships between urban land cover and water quality in streams of the South Carolina piedmont, a region undergoing very rapid urban development. We have studied streams primarily in the Saluda and Enoree River basins in which major land covers include forest, pasture, residential areas, and commercial areas. Streams draining forested subwatersheds in both river basins have very low solute concentrations. Concentrations of many solutes (especially nitrate) correlate positively both with percent urban land cover and impervious surface cover in sub-watersheds. Effluents from wastewater treatment plants locally cause large increases in solute concentrations and may contribute to the eutrophication of downstream aquatic ecosystems. Conversely, concentrations of nitrate, dissolved silicon, and other solutes are lower downstream than upstream of artificial ponds, p...

Research paper thumbnail of The Furman University River Basins Research Initiative: A Multidisciplinary Examination of Urban Influences on Piedmont Streams

Urban land cover correlates negatively with water quality both chemically and biologically in riv... more Urban land cover correlates negatively with water quality both chemically and biologically in river systems. Urban streams also may support less diverse biological communities than streams in rural landscapes. Furthermore, stream biota may experience physiological stresses from pollutants and from altered stream hydrology and temperature regimes in urban environments. The expansion of urban land cover in the upper piedmont of South Carolina, especially in the Greenville-Spartanburg metropolitan area, is occurring at one of the most rapid rates in the United States. Over the past several years, our multidisciplinary undergraduate research program, the River Basins Research Initiative, has focused on the influence of urban land cover on streams in the Greenville vicinity. In particular, we have examined relationships between land cover, water quality, fish assemblages, and stream geomorphology. We have worked primarily in the Saluda and Enoree River basins, in which major land covers ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Biogeochemical Impact of Effluent From a Poultry Processing Facility on a Small Headwater Stream, Greenville, South Carolina

Poultry processing produces sizable amounts of wastewater through the cleaning, washing, and disi... more Poultry processing produces sizable amounts of wastewater through the cleaning, washing, and disinfection processes. The effluent generated can typically have elevated levels of nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, from the chicken waste as well as elevated levels of cleaning agents like chloride used in the disinfection process. The discharge of this effluent into local waterways can bring about marked changes to stream water chemistry. This study quantifies the impacts of effluent discharge from a poultry processing facility has on the chemical composition of a small headwater stream in Greenville, South Carolina. Effluent from the plant empties into the stream via a discharge pipe and associated gully each weekday evening. Sampling sites were established 115 meters above and below the point of discharge. A pressure transducer took continuous stage measurements, and an YSI sonde took continuous conductivity readings at the downstream site. Automated ISCO water samplers we...

Research paper thumbnail of A simple daily soil–water balance model for estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge in temperate humid areas

Hydrogeology Journal, 2007

... The grid-based output can be easily imported as a recharge boundary input file for groundwate... more ... The grid-based output can be easily imported as a recharge boundary input file for groundwater flow models. Water budget components can be exported at daily, monthly, or annual time steps. All of the water budget components in the model are calculated at a daily time step. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Key competencies in sustainability in higher education – toward an agreed-upon reference framework

Sustainability Science , 2020

Hundreds of sustainability programs have emerged at universities and colleges around the world ov... more Hundreds of sustainability programs have emerged at universities and colleges around the world over the past 2 decades. A prime question for employers, students, educators, and program administrators is what competencies these programs develop in students. This study explores convergence on competencies for sustainability programs. We conducted a Delphi study with 14 international experts in sustainability education on the framework of key competencies in sustainability by Wiek et al. (Sustain Sci 6: 203–218, 2011), the most frequently cited framework to date. While experts generally agreed with the framework, they propose two additional competencies, suggest a hierarchy of competencies, and specify learning objectives for students interested in a career as sustainability researcher. The refined framework can inform program development, implementation, and evaluation to enhance employability of graduates and facilitate comparison of sustainability programs worldwide.

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of Stream Response to Storm Events Among Rural, Residential, and Commercial Watersheds Within the Piedmont Region, Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of Stream Temperatures Among Rural, Residential, and Commercial Watersheds Within the Piedmont Region, Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Assessing Global Water Scarcity

... DEKNIGHT, Brittany, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Furman University, 3300 Poinsett Hwy, G... more ... DEKNIGHT, Brittany, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Furman University, 3300 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, SC 29613, brittany.deknight@furman.edu ... 30--Booth# 5 Undergraduate Research (Posters) Hyatt Regency Savannah on the Historic Riverfront: Harborside West 8:00 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Quantifying Hydrologic Fluxes to a Small Impounded Piedmont Lake, Greenville, South Carolina

Effective lake management and restoration requires a quantitative understanding of the magnitude ... more Effective lake management and restoration requires a quantitative understanding of the magnitude and spatial and temporal variability of hydrologic fluxes within a lake's water budget. Knowledge of these fluxes allows for sustainable management of a lake as well as prompt and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Stream Temperature Dynamics and Influences in Urban Headwater Streams, Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Sustainable Collaborations: Developing and Maintaining Cross-Campus Partnerships for Sustainability Programming

Research paper thumbnail of Hydrological and Biogeochemical Dynamics of Two Riparian Corridors in Greenville, South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Stream Water Chemistry During Storm Events in the Piedmont Region of South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of The Impact of Golf Courses on Stream Water Temperature

The Open Environmental & Biological Monitoring Journal

ABSTRACT Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. M... more ABSTRACT Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. Most courses contain streams that pass through the course grounds. The impact that these courses have on a stream’s aquatic ecosystem is an area of active research. Previous work has focused on the impacts of course runoff and potential non-point source pollution on stream chemistry, but significantly less work has been done on the impacts to physical characteristics like stream water temperature. In this study a comparative analysis of stream water temperature was conducted at six different golf courses in Greenville, South Carolina. Courses were selected that had continuous, tributary free and lake free reaches that passed through the golf course grounds. At each course, stream water temperature was measured at 5 minute intervals from June – November 2008 at a site upstream and downstream of the course. An Onset Water Temp Pro V2 temperature logger secured to the stream bottom was used to measure water temperature. In addition to stream temperature, a number of other parameters were assessed along the golf course stream reach including stream discharge measurements under baseflow conditions, stream length between sampling sites, the extent of riparian cover along the stream banks, and any human alterations to the stream’s channel morphology. Under baseflow conditions during the period of record, the sites downstream of the courses exhibited (1) consistently higher stream water temperatures (on the order of 4 – 10 °F during the afternoon hours) and (2) significantly larger diurnal temperature ranges (typically two to three times larger) compared to their upstream counterparts. The observed temperature differences between the up and downstream sites were primarily due to the lack of riparian cover along the golf course reaches and to a lesser extent alterations in the stream channel morphology. Temperature differences among the sites were governed by differences in stream discharge and stream length in addition to the extent of riparian cover and channel alteration. Although the impacts of these temperature modifications on the ecology, biology, and chemistry of the stream system are not known, the magnitude of the temperature change is large enough to be of potential consequence.

Research paper thumbnail of Spatial Analysis of Well Yields in Fractured Bedrock Terrains of the Piedmont of Northwestern South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of Student Paper Consumption at a Liberal Arts University

Research paper thumbnail of A Comparative Analysis of Consumer Profiles among Farmers Markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Participants in the Upstate of South Carolina

Research paper thumbnail of The Impacts of Golf Courses on Stream Water pH and Dissolved Oxygen in the Upper Piedmont, Greenville, South Carolina

Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. Most cours... more Golf courses are an increasingly prominent feature across the southern U.S. landscape. Most courses contain streams that pass through the course grounds. The impact that these courses have on a stream’s aquatic ecosystem is an area of active research. Previous work has focused on the impacts of course runoff and potential non-point source pollution on stream chemistry, but significantly less work has been done on the impacts to physical characteristics like stream water pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. In this study a comparative analysis of stream water pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature was conducted at four different golf courses in Greenville, South Carolina. Courses were selected that had continuous, tributary free and lake free reaches that passed through the golf course grounds. At each course, one YSI sonde was placed just upstream of the golf course and a second was placed in the same stream just downstream of the golf course for somewhere between three to six days...

Research paper thumbnail of Furman University’s Sustainability Living Learning Communities

Furman University has had a long standing commitment to promoting engaged learning through the de... more Furman University has had a long standing commitment to promoting engaged learning through the development of academic learning experiences beyond the traditional classroom setting. As part of Furman’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, the Office of Housing and Residence Life and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences partnered and developed two sustainability living/learning communities, one comprised of a first-year experience engaged living program and the other an upperclass living learning community. The first-year experience program, the Environmental Community of Students (ECOS), now in its sixth year, consists of 12 – 15 incoming, sustainability minded, first-year students who choose to live together and take two introductory environmental classes as a cohort (An Introduction to Environmental Science course in the fall term and a First Year Seminar “Sustainability of Natural Resources” in the spring term). As designed, the program is intended to foster intere...

Research paper thumbnail of Nitrogen in urban streams: Possible sources, sinks, and transformations

In the piedmont of the southeastern United States, urbanization typically begins along the topogr... more In the piedmont of the southeastern United States, urbanization typically begins along the topographic divides between watersheds. As a result, urban areas tend to develop around the headwaters of streams, and any agricultural areas occur along downstream reaches. This pattern of urbanization is useful for understanding the impact of urbanization on stream chemistry because there are no upstream agricultural impacts. In the South Carolina piedmont, streams drain high-grade metamorphic silicate rocks resulting in dilute streams sensitive to anthropogenic effects. The goal of our study was to characterize the chemistry of streams in urban areas free of agriculture and point-source discharge. Our study area included small watersheds (15-100 km2) in the Enoree and Saluda River basins of South Carolina. We have found that solute concentrations, especially nitrate concentrations, are highest in urban headwaters and decrease downstream. The concentrations of most solutes are lower during d...

Research paper thumbnail of Urbanization and Water Quality in the South Carolina Piedmont

Expansion of urban areas often degrades water quality both chemically and biologically in river s... more Expansion of urban areas often degrades water quality both chemically and biologically in river systems. We have examined relationships between urban land cover and water quality in streams of the South Carolina piedmont, a region undergoing very rapid urban development. We have studied streams primarily in the Saluda and Enoree River basins in which major land covers include forest, pasture, residential areas, and commercial areas. Streams draining forested subwatersheds in both river basins have very low solute concentrations. Concentrations of many solutes (especially nitrate) correlate positively both with percent urban land cover and impervious surface cover in sub-watersheds. Effluents from wastewater treatment plants locally cause large increases in solute concentrations and may contribute to the eutrophication of downstream aquatic ecosystems. Conversely, concentrations of nitrate, dissolved silicon, and other solutes are lower downstream than upstream of artificial ponds, p...

Research paper thumbnail of The Furman University River Basins Research Initiative: A Multidisciplinary Examination of Urban Influences on Piedmont Streams

Urban land cover correlates negatively with water quality both chemically and biologically in riv... more Urban land cover correlates negatively with water quality both chemically and biologically in river systems. Urban streams also may support less diverse biological communities than streams in rural landscapes. Furthermore, stream biota may experience physiological stresses from pollutants and from altered stream hydrology and temperature regimes in urban environments. The expansion of urban land cover in the upper piedmont of South Carolina, especially in the Greenville-Spartanburg metropolitan area, is occurring at one of the most rapid rates in the United States. Over the past several years, our multidisciplinary undergraduate research program, the River Basins Research Initiative, has focused on the influence of urban land cover on streams in the Greenville vicinity. In particular, we have examined relationships between land cover, water quality, fish assemblages, and stream geomorphology. We have worked primarily in the Saluda and Enoree River basins, in which major land covers ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Biogeochemical Impact of Effluent From a Poultry Processing Facility on a Small Headwater Stream, Greenville, South Carolina

Poultry processing produces sizable amounts of wastewater through the cleaning, washing, and disi... more Poultry processing produces sizable amounts of wastewater through the cleaning, washing, and disinfection processes. The effluent generated can typically have elevated levels of nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, from the chicken waste as well as elevated levels of cleaning agents like chloride used in the disinfection process. The discharge of this effluent into local waterways can bring about marked changes to stream water chemistry. This study quantifies the impacts of effluent discharge from a poultry processing facility has on the chemical composition of a small headwater stream in Greenville, South Carolina. Effluent from the plant empties into the stream via a discharge pipe and associated gully each weekday evening. Sampling sites were established 115 meters above and below the point of discharge. A pressure transducer took continuous stage measurements, and an YSI sonde took continuous conductivity readings at the downstream site. Automated ISCO water samplers we...