Alan Fryar

Research Interests:
hydrogeology
Low temperature Geochemistry
Education

Ph.D., University of Alberta, 1992

Research

Alan Fryar's interests broadly cover hydrogeology and environmental geochemistry. Areas of emphasis include delineating rates and sources of groundwater recharge and discharge; interactions of groundwater and surface water; chemical evolution during groundwater recharge and flow; and natural attenuation of contaminants. Research projects with students have included controls on the composition of groundwater in regional sedimentary aquifers, such as within the Bengal basin of India and the Texas High Plains; sediment and pathogen transport during storm flow through karst aquifers in the Inner Bluegrass region of central Kentucky; groundwater flow to streams in the Gulf Coastal Plain of western Kentucky; and the fate of trichloroethene, a common solvent and suspected carcinogen, in geologic media. These projects have been supported by the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Geological Survey as well as by UK. Student research typically includes a combination of field work, laboratory analyses, and mathematical modeling, and involves collaboration with other researchers at UK and elsewhere. Students commonly take courses not only in Geological Sciences, but also in related fields, such as Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geography, and Plant and Soil Science. Former students have found work with consulting firms, with government agencies, and as university and high school teachers.

Selected Publications:

Fryar, A.E., Schreiber, M.E., Pholkern, K., Srisuk, K., and Ziegler, B.A., 2021, Variability in groundwater flow and chemistry in the Mekong River alluvial aquifer (Thailand): implications for arsenic and manganese occurrence: Environmental Earth Sciences, v. 80, no. 6, article 225.

*Tripathi, G.N., **Fryar, A.E., Hampson, S.K., and *Mukherjee, A., 2021, Seasonal to decadal variability in focused groundwater and contaminant discharge along a channelized stream: Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation, v. 41, no. 1, p. 32–45.

*Bandy, A.M., Cook, K., Fryar, A.E., and Zhu, J., 2020, Differential transport of Escherichia coli isolates compared to abiotic tracers in a karst aquifer: Groundwater, v. 58, no. 1, p. 70–78.

*Barna, J.M., Fryar, A.E., Cao, L., *Currens, B.J., Peng, T., and Zhu, C., 2020, Variability in groundwater flow and chemistry in the Houzhai karst basin, Guizhou Province, China: Environmental & Engineering Geoscience, v. 26, no. 3, p. 273–289.

*Currens, B.J., Hall, A., Brion, G.M., and Fryar, A.E., 2019, Use of acetaminophen and sucralose as co-analytes to differentiate sources of human excreta in surface waters: Water Research, v. 157, p. 1–7.

Hanley, C., Freeman, R.L., **Fryar, A.E., *Sherman, A.R., and Edwards, E., 2019, Water in India and Kentucky: developing an online curriculum with field experiences for high school classes in diverse settings: Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, v. 168, p. 78–92.

*Howell, B.A., **Fryar, A.E., Benaabidate, L., Bouchaou, L., and Farhaoui, M., 2019, Variable responses of karst springs to recharge in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco: Hydrogeology Journal, v. 27, p. 1693–1710.

(* indicates student author; **indicates corresponding author, if not first author)