Beth L. Parker

Beth L. Parker is a hydrogeologist and professor at the University of Guelph who has made exceptional contributions to the science and practice of Contaminant Hydrogeology and the protection of groundwater from contamination, that have been adopted internationally to protect water supplies in Guelph and many other communities.

She has pioneered novel downhole borehole devices and procedures used for monitoring bedrock aquifers at complex contamination sites worldwide. As of April 2021, she also holds 4 patents and more than 165 refereed papers, is the most cited Canadian under the age of 65 for papers concerning groundwater contamination, and is also the director/founder of Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute located at the University of Guelph and the associate director of The University Consortium.

Education and career
Parker has an undergraduate degree in from Allegheny College in environmental science and economics, a masters degree from Duke University in environmental engineering. Parker began her career working in New York on industrial contaminants in groundwater, particularly in glacial and bedrock sediments. She earned her Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Waterloo in hydrogeology where she worked on organic liquids found in porous rocks. Following her Ph.D. she remained at the University of Waterloo as a research professor until she joined the faculty at the University of Guelph in 2004.

In 2019 Parker was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union who cited her "for fundamental advancement in characterizing contaminant mobility in fractured sedimentary rocks".

Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute
Parker is the director and founder of the Morwick G360 Groundwater Research Institute in which she works alongside John A. Cherry in leading a globally involved field-focused research institute with the mission to provide new technologies to further protect underground water supplies. According to Morwick G360, groundwater is the world's most extracted raw material, with one-third of the world's population depending on it for drinking water. Globally, it represents a $400 billion dollar industry as the World's third largest sector, following behind electricity and oil.

Morwick G360's research focuses in three main areas: aged contaminated industrial sites; groundwater resource protection for drinking water; and preventing potential impacts to surface water from upstream unconventional oil and gas development.

The research institute is funded on average of 5 million dollars per year with contributions from governments, multi-national corporations, and big industry members. Morwick G360 is managed by 17 principal investigators (consisting of professors from the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo) as well as more than 150 graduate students.

Research
Parker's research centers on how diffusion impacts the movement of contaminants in groundwater, with implications for remediation of groundwater contaminants. This research includes investigations into dense non-aqueous phase liquid (abbreviated DNAPL), or liquids that are not miscible with water. She has investigated how contaminants such as tetrachloroethylene can be tracked in groundwater and potentially removed from aquifers. Her research also includes tracking human viruses in groundwater, and the persistence of methane gas in groundwater which would be explosive if people extract groundwater containing methane from the subsurface.

She holds two patents, and, related to alleviation of contamination in groundwater.

Awards and honors

 * Named Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Chair (2007)
 * John Hem Award, National Ground Water Association (2009)
 * M. King Hubbert Award, National Ground Water Association (2018)
 * Fellow, American Geophysical Union in the Hydrology Section (2019)
 * Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering (2021)
 * Tage Erlander Visiting Professorship with the Swedish Research Council & Lund University (2021)
 * Farvolden Award from the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (2021)
 * O.E. Meinzer Award, Geological Society of America's Hydrology Division (2022)