Research in the Delta

The California Delta is at the heart of California's water supply, providing roughly 75% of California’s water for irrigation and human consumption. It is also home to deeply subsiding organic soils, decreasing native aquatic species populations, water quality degradation, weakening levees, decreasing agricultural viability, and consequential releases of GHGs.

Thomas received a graduate student researcher (GSR) appointment from the UCD’s Metamorphic Landscapes Lab, under the direction of Brett Milligan, to lead the design and land use adaptations for Bouldin Island- one of the most heavily impacted and subsided islands in the region. This project entails leadership in stakeholder engagement and public outreach for the planning and design of multi-benefit landscape adaptation strategies. The work focuses on landscape design, visualization, and 3D modeling of landscape strategies, as well as leading and orchestrating stakeholder participation in a rigorous co-design process. The GSR appointment runs through the Summer of 2023, for a total of 6 academic quarters.

Thomas is also a project contributor for Advanced Environmental Methods (AEM), an environmental engineering start-up. He plans on completing his practicum by developing policy recommendations to extract, recycle and reuse nitrogen and phosphorus from waste streams currently being disposed into inland and coastal waters of the state. AEM installed the first in-building urine nutrient recovery system in North America in 2021 and just completed the installation of the first full-scale ammonia extraction system at the UCD renewable energy anaerobic digester (READ) facility on campus.