Dr. Dorina Murgulet is a professor of hydrogeology and director of the Center for Water Supplies Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). Prior to joining TAMU-CC as an assistant professor, Dr. Murgulet worked as a research hydrogeologist for the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA) while completing her Ph.D. at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She also graduated with a M.S. degree in hydrogeology from University of Alabama and a M.Sc. in geochemistry and B.Sc. in engineering geology from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, Romania.
Dr. Murgulet’s dissertation project involved a comprehensive evaluation of groundwater flow dynamics and contaminant transport to coastal waters under low recharge conditions. As part of this project, she worked to develop a conceptual and mathematical model describing the groundwater flow dynamics, seawater intrusion, and nutrient transport to the Gulf of Mexico under density-driven flow conditions caused by the presence of saltwater intrusion. While at GSA, she worked on several projects related to water resources, such as groundwater sustainability for large-scale irrigation, source-water, and resource evaluations.
Currently, Dr. Murgulet is leading multidisciplinary research efforts within the Center for Water Supply Studies at TAMU-CC and mentors and supervises undergraduate and graduate students in the Environmental Sciences and Coastal and Marine System Science (CMSS) M.S. and Ph.D. programs in the College of Science. Her research group is currently working on refining groundwater-surface water interaction processes using multidisciplinary approaches such as hydrologic, geochemical, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, machine learning, geophysics, and groundwater modeling principles and techniques. Specifically, the research focuses on understanding:
- groundwater to water quality and habitat degradation in coastal embayments;
- submarine groundwater discharge dynamics in response to hydroclimatic variabilities and extreme events;
- the role of groundwater nutrients in system-wide nutrient budgets and estuarine health;
- groundwater storage response to climate variability;
- coastal infrastructure vulnerability due to water table flooding in response to sea level fluctuations and precipitation trends; and
- impacts of extreme wet events on groundwater quality.
Dr. Murgulet has organized and led large collaborative proposals and earned funding from a wide range of sponsors, including the National Science Foundation, Texas General Land Office, Texas Sea Grant, Research and Extension Initiative, and the private sector and NGOs. She serves as a reviewer for numerous international water research journals.
