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College of Arts & Sciences
Geology

Dominick 'Dom' Ciruzzi

Assistant Professor

Office: McGlothlin-Street Hall 216
Email: [[dmciruzzi]]
Office Phone: 757 221 2484
Research Areas: Hydroecology, Geophysics, Hydrogeology, Trees, Ecosystem/Landscape Ecology

Education

  • Ph.D., Geological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • M.S., Geological Sciences, University at Buffalo
  • B.A., Geophysics, SUNY Geneseo

Research Interests

Hydroecology, Geophysics, Hydrogeology, Trees, Ecosystem/Landscape Ecology
 
The overall goal of my research is to describe the physical processes controlling water movement along the groundwater-soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and their implications on the history, trajectory, and sustainability of natural and built ecosystems. Through developing and applying various field, numerical modeling, and remote sensing approaches, I investigate the influence of vegetation processes (mainly trees) on the water cycle and, conversely, how changes to the water cycle influence ecosystem structure, function, and services. My research synthesizes diverse indicators of hydroecological processes to address water, food, and ecosystem security in the contexts of climate change and land use change.
 

Projects

  • Monitoring tree sway as an indicator of hydroecological processes (e.g., reductions in evapotranspiration from water stress, interception processes)
  • The role of trees in the urban water cycle
  • Groundwater-forest interactions during drought
  • Trees as hydrological sensors: leveraging tree rings to reconstruct historic groundwater and lake levels

Selected Publications

Ciruzzi, D.M., and Loheide, S.P. 2021. Monitoring tree sway as an indicator of interception dynamics before, during, and following a storm. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL094980.

Ciruzzi, D. M., Loheide, S. P. 2021. Groundwater subsidizes tree growth and transpiration in sandy humid forests. Ecohydrology. 2021; 14:e2294.

Jackson, T. D., Sethi, S., Dellwik, E., Angelou, N., Bunce, A., van Emmerik, T., Duperat, M., Ruel, J.-C., Wellpott, A., Van Bloem, S., Achim, A., Kane, B., Ciruzzi, D. M., Loheide II, S. P., James, K., Burcham, D., Moore, J., Schindler, D., Kolbe, S., … Gardiner, B. 2021. The motion of trees in the wind: a data synthesis. Biogeosciences, 18(13), 4059–4072.

Ciruzzi, D. M., & Loheide, S. P. 2019. Monitoring tree sway as an indicator of water stress. Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 12021– 12029.

Ciruzzi, D. M., Lowry, C. S. 2017. Impact of complex aquifer geometry on groundwater storage in high-elevation meadows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA. Hydrological Processes. 31: 1863– 1875.

Courses

101: Dynamic Earth-Physical Geology

314: Watershed Dynamics

315: Hydrology

350: Earth Science for Environmental Justice