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Faculty lecture to discuss river restoration and conservation


MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Feb. 16, 2023) — As part of Milligan University’s Faculty Lecture Series, Dr. Lindsay Worley, assistant professor of mathematics, will present a lecture titled, “A Holistic Approach to River Restoration Design and Conservation Planning.”

The lecture will be held in the university’s Hyder Auditorium on Monday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.  

Worley holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Vermont. Worley’s graduate research focused on nature-based flood mitigation alternatives. Her research shows how reconnecting or conserving existing connected floodplains can be more beneficial than human-made flood controls, such as levees or berms.

“Connected floodplains have a multitude of benefits, including dissipating flood energies, slowing stream flow, and improving habitat and water quality,” said Worley.

Worley will share the benefits of computational tools she developed to aid the complex process of identifying optimal floodplain restoration and conservation locations. These tools consider multiple objectives and concerns on the reach and basin scale. Her research uses three case studies from Vermont.

Prior to teaching at Milligan, Worley worked as a consulting engineer in the land development and solar industries. In addition to math, she also is well-versed in a broad range of coding languages, artificial neural network algorithms and hydraulic modeling tools.

The Faculty Lecture Series provides students and other members of the Milligan community a glimpse into the active world of academic research and writing at Milligan.


Posted by Greer, Allie E on February 16, 2023.