Sunrise on Mt. Sinai, Egypt	Paula J. Mouser University of Vermont Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 213 Votey Building Burlington, VT  05405 (802)-656-1937 voice (802)-656-8446 fax Paula.Mouser@uvm.edu
Welcome to Paula’s web page that highlights activities towards my doctorate in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Vermont. I have been in Burlington since the summer of 2000, and after completing my master’s degree under Dr. William C. Hession, I completely switched topics from natural wetland systems to work with my dissertation advisor Dr. Donna Rizzo on long-term monitoring issues in contaminated groundwater. Research My ultimate objective is to provide managers and regulators of contaminated sites, particularly those impacted by leaking municipal landfills, with the tools to incorporate multiple types of information to make better decisions about the extent of contamination and its risk. Specifically, I am using several types of geostatistical methods along with artificial neural networks to reduce estimates of uncertainty by incorporating hydrochemical, geophysical, and molecular-level data. Other research interests include: Multivariate Statistics and Geostatistics in Engineering Applications, Solid Waste Management and Disposal, Wetland Hydrology, Microbial Ecology of Leachate-Contaminated Groundwater
Dissertation Project: Using Microbiological Bioindicators to reduce Long-Term Monitoring Costs and Improve Uncertainty Estimates at Waste Containment Sites My dissertation research combines an exciting microbiological technology (rDNA fingerprinting using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP)) with monitoring at waste sites (municipal landfills). These techniques may assist in lowering long-term monitoring costs if shown to (1) indicate sources of leakage at waste sites, (2) lower uncertainty of predicting leachate plume movement in the groundwater, or (3) provide an easier method for distinguishing between background and leachate contaminated locations.
Master’s Project: Hydrology, Geostatistics, and Biodiversity of Molly Bog, Vermont  We installed 57 shallow and deep groundwater wells in addition to a weather station, pressure transducers, and a water quality probe at Molly Bog to monitor peat-water movement and pore-water quality.  This study, as an interdisciplinary project with three other departments at the University of Vermont (Biology, Plant and Soil Science, Microbiology) is evaluating the link of hydrology to biodiversity in Vermont bogs.
Background (C.V. in pdf) 2006 Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont Improving Detection and Long-Term Monitoring Strategies for Landfill Leachate Contaminated Groundwater with Microbiological Data using Geostatistics and Artificial Neural Networks, Advisor: Dr. Donna Rizzo 2002 M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont Topic: Studying the Hydrology of a Pristine Kettlehole Bog, Advisor: Dr. William C. Hession  1998 B.S. Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 2000-2001, Consultant Engineer, Marin Environmental in Richmond, Vermont 1998-2000, Landfill Engineer for the City of Logan, Utah 1997-1998, Wastewater Treatment Intern at the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake SLC, Utah
Peer-Reviewed Papers Mouser, P.J., Rizzo, D.M., Röling, W.F.M., van Breukelen, B.M., (2005). A multivariate geostatistical approach to spatial representation of groundwater contamination using hydrochemistry and microbial community profiles, Environmental Science & Technology 39, 7551-7559. Morales, S.E., Mouser, P.J., Ward, N., Hudman, S.P., Gotelli , N.J., Lewis, T.A. (in press), Comparison of Bacterial Composition and Diversity in New England Sphagnum Bogs Using Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP), Microbial Ecology Rizzo, D.M., Mouser, P.J., Whitney, D.H., Mark, C.D., Voinov, A.A., Magarey, R.D. (in press) The Comparison of Five Software Packages: Formalization, Calibration, and Analysis, Environmental Modelling and Software. Mouser, P.J., Hession, W.C., Rizzo, D.M., Gotelli, N.J. (2005), Hydrology and Geostatistics in a Vermont, U.S.A. Kettlehole Peatland, Journal of Hydrology, 301, (1-4), 250-266. (pdf version)
Recent Scholarships and Awards November 2004, 1st Place, Air and Waste Management Association New England Section Annual Conference Student Paper Competition May 2004, Outstanding Graduate Student, University of Vermont, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering March 2004, Air and Waste Management Association Jacqueline Shields Award  June  2004,  Lake Champlain Research Consortium Student Grant: "Microbiology of contaminated groundwater from a municipal landfill that drains into the Lake Champlain Basin" May 2004, Vermont EPSCoR Graduate Fellowship: "Surrogates in Long-term Monitoring Applications"
Outside Interests Chi Omega Alumnae Graduate Student Senate (GSS) Founding Member, University of Vermont American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Member Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Northern New England Secretary Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) Student Member