J. Alberto Casillas-Trasviña

Hello! I’m an early-career researcher in Groundwater Hydrology from the cozy coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico. I was a Lecturer and Researcher in Hydrogeology at the Technische Universität Berlin. Prior to this, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher in Groundwater Hydrology at UC Davis, LAWR Department, advised by Prof. Thomas Harter, and at the USDA Sustainable Agricultral Water Systems (SAWS) Unit, advised by Dr. Scott Bradford and Dr. Menberu Meles.

I obtained my Ph.D. in Geology at Gent Universiteit in 2022, in the Laboratory for Applied Geology and Hydrogeology (LTGH) advised by Prof. Emeritus Kristine Walraevens, and at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre advised by Dr. Bart Rogiers, Dr. Koen Beerten and Laurent Wouters. I obtained my MSc. in Hydrology and Water Resources in 2018 at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education advised by Prof. Yangxiao Zhou and Prof. Tibor Stigter, and my Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2014 from the Instituto Tecnologico de La Paz.

My research lies at the intersection of hydrogeology, integrated modeling, and sustainable water resource management, with a focus on groundwater resilience in arid, drought-prone regions. I develop high-resolution, process-based models that integrate environmental tracers, vadose zone dynamics, and machine learning to improve recharge estimates, simulate contaminant transport, and inform MAR design. My proposed research agenda, centered on the SWaRM program (Sustainable Water Resource Management), adopts a multi-axial approach: innovating in data assimilation (e.g., DTS, age tracers, AEM), advancing groundwater-surface water modeling (e.g., coupled MODFLOW-HYDRUS, integrated frameworks), and enabling multi-scale exploration using Bayesian methods and deep learning.

I’m committed to open science, transparent model development, and interdisciplinary collaboration to co-produce actionable knowledge with stakeholders. This includes integrating hydro-economic analysis and governance studies to evaluate cost-effectiveness and equity of groundwater strategies. From California’s Central Valley to arid zones in Mexico and sub-Saharan Africa, my goal is to help shape adaptive and just groundwater governance through technically sound and policy-relevant research.

This space is a reflection of both my scientific interests and who I am beyond the lab. Expect posts mainly on hydrogeology and water science 🌊, field (and maybe cooking) experiments 🥘, snapshots from our labs ideas 🌍, plant musings 🌿, and perhaps even chapters from a sci-fi story I’ve been drafting 📚. I believe in science, creativity, and staying human, and this site is my small attempt at keeping all of that in balance 🐋.