Bio

I’m currently a PhD candidate in Earth System Science at Stanford University. I use modern data science techniques to better understand the environmental processes affecting water quality.

This broad topic includes research projects in several different areas:

1. Building a data-driven water quality model that can make predictions in real time based on in situ sensor observations
2. Understanding seasonal contaminant cycling in a uranium-contaminated floodplain in Wyoming
3. Modeling the impact of managed aquifer recharge on groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley
4. Analyzing the financial cost of EPA drinking water quality violations through 10+ years of consumer purchasing data

Honors & Awards

  • Outstanding Poster Award, Computational Methods in Water Resources XXIII (2020)
  • Outstanding Poster Award, Stanford Deep Learning Symposium (2019)
  • Graduate Research Fellow, National Science Foundation (2017-2022)
  • National GeoCUR Award for Excellence in Student Research, Council on Undergraduate Research (2015)
  • John M. White Award for Excellence in Research, Middlebury College (2015)
  • Outstanding Student Research Paper, Vermont Geological Society (2014)

Education & Certifications

  • B.A., Middlebury College, Geology (2015)

Contact

  • Academic
    University - Student Department: Department of Earth System Science Position: Graduate

Additional Info

Links

All Publications

  • Controls on flood managed aquifer recharge through a heterogeneous vadose zone: hydrologic modeling at a site characterized with surface geophysics HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES Perzan, Z., Osterman, G., Maher, K. 2023; 27 (5): 969-990

    View details for DOI 10.5194/hess-27-969-2023

    View details for Web of Science ID 000943974500001

  • WellSTIC: A Cost-Effective Sensor for Performing Point Dilution Tests to Measure Groundwater Velocity in Shallow Aquifers Water Resources Research Perzan, Z., Chapin, T. 2023; 59

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2022wr033223

  • Simulation of anoxic lenses as exporters of reactivity in alluvial aquifer sediments GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA Babey, T., Boye, K., Tolar, B., Engel, M., Noel, V., Perzan, Z., Kumar, N., Francis, C. A., Bargar, J. R., Maher, K. 2022; 334: 119-134

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.gca.2022.07.018

    View details for Web of Science ID 000855258500004

  • Global Sensitivity Analysis of a Reactive Transport Model for Mineral Scale Formation During Hydraulic Fracturing Environmental Engineering Science Li, Q., Wang, L., Perzan, Z., Caers, J., Brown Jr., G. E., Bargar, J. R., Maher, K. 2021

    View details for DOI 10.1089/ees.2020.0365

  • Sample identifiers and metadata to support data management and reuse in multidisciplinary ecosystem sciences Data Science Journal Damerow, J., Varadharajan, C., Boye, K., Brodie, E., Burres, M., Chadwick, K., Crystal-Ornelas, R., Elbashandy, H., Eloy Alves, R., Ely, K., Goldman, A., Haberman, T., Hendrix, V., Kaklia, Z., Kemner, K., Kersting, A., Merino, N., O'Brien, F., Perzan, Z., Robles, E., Sorensen, P., Stegen, J., Walls, R., Weisenhorn, P., Agarwal, D. 2021; 20 (1)

    View details for DOI 10.5334/dsj-2021-011

  • Cave sediments constrain the latest Pleistocene advance of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the Champlain Valley, Vermont, USA JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE Munroe, J. S., Perzan, Z. M., Amidon, W. H. 2016; 31 (8): 893–904

    View details for DOI 10.1002/jqs.2913

    View details for Web of Science ID 000390345600006

  • Dynamic Coupling of Iron, Manganese, and Phosphorus Behavior in Water and Sediment of Shallow Ice-Covered Eutrophic Lakes ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Schroth, A. W., Giles, C. D., Isles, P. F., Xu, Y., Perzan, Z., Druschel, G. K. 2015; 49 (16): 9758–67

    Abstract

    Decreasing duration and occurrence of northern hemisphere ice cover due to recent climate warming is well-documented; however, biogeochemical dynamics underneath the ice are poorly understood. We couple time-series analyses of water column and sediment water interface (SWI) geochemistry with hydrodynamic data to develop a holistic model of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and phosphorus (P) behavior underneath the ice of a shallow eutrophic freshwater bay. During periods of persistent subfreezing temperatures, a highly reactive pool of dissolved and colloidal Fe, Mn, and P develops over time in surface sediments and bottom waters due to reductive dissolution of Fe/Mn(oxy)hydroxides below the SWI. Redox dynamics are driven by benthic O2 consumption, limited air-water exchange of oxygen due to ice cover, and minimal circulation. During thaw events, the concentration, distribution and size partitioning of all species changes, with the highest concentrations of P and "truly dissolved" Fe near the water column surface, and a relatively well-mixed "truly dissolved" Mn and "colloidal" Fe profile due to the influx of geochemically distinct river water and increased circulation. The partitioning and flux of trace metals and phosphorus beneath the ice is dynamic, and heavily influenced by climate-dependent physical processes that vary in both time and space.

    View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.est.5b02057

    View details for Web of Science ID 000359891700044

    View details for PubMedID 26206098

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2676-2452