John Selker

Profile headshot
Univ Distinguished Professor
Alternate Phone

124 SW 26th Street
Rm 210
Corvallis, OR 97331
United States

  • Hydrologic Instrumentation;
  • Vadose Zone Hydrology;
  • Groundwater Hydrology;
  • Stochastic Hydrology; and
  • Contaminant Transport.

Current Research: 

Directs laboratory experiments in five facilities, including column/chamber experiments, flow of non-Newtonian fluids, sediment transport, and development of instrumentation for hydrological research.  Directs multi-dimensional numerical research including simulation of two and three-phase flow in porous media, focusing on the role of local heterogeneity upon fate and transport, and management of aquifers (e.g., for Aquifer Storage and Recovery). Field experiments are ongoing in Oregon (atmospheric turbulence, river/aquifer exchange, artificial recharge of aquifers for habitat restoration), France/Switzerland/Spain/Germany (DTS), Chile (swelling soil hydrology), and across Africa (automated remote monitoring of hydrologic variables).

Faculty Expertise
Water Resources & Irrigation Management
Courses Taught
  • BEE 469 - Ecological Engineering Design I
  • BEE 470 - Ecological Engineering Design II
  • BEE 542 - Vadose Zone Transport
  • BEE512 - Physical Hydrology
Do you accept graduate students?
I accept graduate students for the Biological & Ecological Engineering Department
I accept graduate students for the Crop and Soil Science Department
I accept graduate students for the Soil Science Program
I can serve on graduate committees

Dr. Selker, OSU distinguished professor of Biological and Ecological Engineering and co-Director of both CTEMPs.org and TAHMO.org, has worked USA, Kenya, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Canada, Chile, and England and carried out research in Chile, Ghana, Senegal, Israel, China, and 10 European countries.  His areas of expertise include electronic design irrigation and water systems, and development projects. Dr. Selker has been a professor in the department of Biological and Ecological Engineering at Oregon State University for 31 years focused on Water Resources Engineering, publishing >230 peer-reviewed articles. He served as editor of Water Resources Resaerch for 4 years, and in 2013 he was elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and 2013 received the John Hem Award for Science and Technology from the American Groundwater Association. In 2020 he was elected President of the American Geophysical Union Hydrology Section (7,000 members).  He was selected to give the Boussinesq lecture at the Netherlands National Academy of Sciences in 2021.

Curriculum Vitae
selker_cv_aug_2021.pdf
Education
  • Ph.D., Agricultural Engineering, Hydrology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1991.
  • M.S., Agricultural Engineering, Hydrology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1989.
  • B.A., Physics (thesis), Reed College, Portland, Oregon, 1981
Employment
  • University Distinguished Professor - 2017-Present
  • Professor - 2000-2017
  • Associate Professor - 1995 - 2000
  • Assistant Professor - 1991- 1995
Professional Affiliations
  • American Society for the Advancement of Science (Life Member)
  • American Geophysical Union (Life Member)
  • Soil Science Society of American
  • Oregon Society of Soil Scientists
  • 1992 Young Faculty Fellow, U.S. Department of Energy, $100,000 over two-year period.
  • 1994 Selected as member of Gamma Sigma Delta Agricultural Honor Society.
  • 1994 State of Oregon ESP Team Award for participation in water quality programs in Lane County.
  • 1994 OSU Search for Excellence Award, OSU Extension Service.
  • 1997 OSU Search for Excellence Award, OSU Extension Service.
  • 2010 Community Service Award, Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrological Sciences Incorporated (CUAHSI)
  • 2013 Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (0.1% of members/yr)
  • 2013 National Ground Water Association Jim Heim Award for Science and Technology
  • 2020 University of Conception, Chile, Centennial Professor
  • 2020 Elected President of the American Geophysical Union Hydrology Section
  • 2021 Boussinesq Lecturer, Amsterdam, Netherlands
My Publications

2016

2015