David Lockington

Head, Department of Environmental Engineering and Director of the Centre for Water Studies, University of Queensland

Professor David Lockington's expertise in vadose zone and coastal groundwater hydrology is recognised internationally.

He is a specialist in the quantitative analysis of catchment and groundwater hydrology through mathematical modelling, including both chemical and biological processes.

His work is widely published and has been recognised through his appointment as an associate editor of two of the most prestigious international hydrology journals.

While Professor Lockington's research activity covers a broad range of topics, over the past decade he has been concentrating on quantitative groundwater dynamics at the land-ocean interface (LOI).

In the 1990s he helped establish the effect of tidal dynamics on basic seawater intrusion as well as identifying their generation of an upper circulation cell. The presence of this upper cell has become the focus of significant international research activity due to its implications for fluid residence times and biogeochemical processes.

Professor Lockington has now extended this work to investigate other critical interactions as well as quantifying the hydrology and groundwater dynamics in important island systems.

He is also continuing with the research fundamentals of water and chemical transport in the vadose zone, particularly those associated with infiltration and recharge.

The governing equations are very nonlinear and difficult to solve. Professor Lockington has principally worked on developing knowledge of the basic structure of these equations and their underlying solutions using analytical approaches.

His recent contributions to vadose zone hydrology include assessing the role of hysteresis in aquifer properties in tidal water table capillary fringe dynamics and salinisation, as well as tidal marsh processes.

Chief Investigator and Leader Program 4. Email David Lockington