Ajay B. Limaye is an Assistant Professor in the UVA Department of Environmental Sciences and a faculty affiliate in Environmental Thought and Practice. He studies the evolution of landscapes on Earth and other planets, focusing on the role of rivers. Current research topics include river forms, dynamics and deposits; landscape and sedimentary records of climate on Mars and Titan; and feedbacks between landslides and ecology in central Virginia. Tools for this work include remote sensing, geospatial analysis, numerical modeling and laboratory experiments. Limaye holds a B.A. in Geophysics (UC-Berkeley, 2007) and a Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences (Caltech, 2015). [Email: [email protected] | CV | Google Scholar]
Postdoctoral Researchers
Youwei Wang earned his Ph.D. from the Delft University of Technology in 2021, where his thesis focused on alluvial architecture modelling, floodplain aggradation, channel sandstone characterization, and cyclostratigraphy. His field work focused on the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming (US). Since joining the group in March 2022 Youwei has led efforts to develop the Landscape Evolution Lab and has continuing interests in using models to link surface processes and sedimentary products. [Email: [email protected] | Research website | CV]
Dimitri Bandou recently completed his Ph.D. at Universität Bern, Switzerland, focusing on the history and the processes behind the formation of glacial valleys in the Alps. His thesis work used 3D forward modelling techniques based on gravity data to infer the geometry of formerly glaciated valleys buried beneath sediment fill. [Research website]
Graduate Students
Yuan Li is a 5th-year Ph.D. candidate and previously studied at Nanjing University, China (MS, 2019), where she focused on sediment transport in estuaries. Her research interests include meandering rivers and morphodynamic modelling. Yuan’s work has appeared in Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface and Continental Shelf Research and was recognized with the Ziemann Publication Award in the Department of Environmental Sciences in 2023. In November 2023, Yuan is featured in Early Career Spotlight by the AGU Earth and Planetary Surface Processes section. [Email: [email protected] | Research website]
Ariana Flournoy is a 2nd-year M.S. candidate and completed her undergraduate training in geoscience at Western Washington Univ. (BA, 2021), inspired by the landscapes of the the mountain west and research experiences with Dr. Melissa Rice and Dr. Brady Foreman. Her current research focuses on interpreting ancient climate on Mars from alluvial fans. [Email: [email protected]] [Research website]
Vidushi Sharma is a 2nd-year graduate student and previously studied at the University of Punjab, India (MS, 2022), where her thesis work focused on field studies of Quaternary fluvial sediments in the northwest Himalaya. [Email: [email protected]]
Abigail (Abby) Ackerman is a 1st-year graduate student . Abby completed her degree in Geology at Bryn Mawr College (BA, 2017) and brings five years of experience working in science policy communications with the Consortium for Ocean Leadership in Washington, D.C. Her research focuses on interactions between landslides and tree communities in central Virginia. [Email: [email protected]]
Undergraduate researchers
Several UVA Environmental Sciences majors are working on independent research this academic year. Victoria Thompson is completing a thesis on the relationship between wind direction and sand dune migration at Jockey’s Ridge, the largest dune system in the eastern US. Sophie Gere and Melanie York are working on interpreting discharge timeseries data Shenandoah River in central Virginia.
Group alumni
Undergraduate students: Emma Brahmey (2020), Harsh Padhye (2021), Hans Theiler (2021-2022), Medha Prakash (2021-2023; now Graduate student, Univ. Texas at Austin), Julianne Kirby (2022), Anson Dao (2022-2023), Cynthia Nguyen (2022-2023), Victoria Thompson (2023), Brooke Carmody (2023), Anthony Michaelson (2023).
Graduate students: Jake Smith, M.S. (2020-2022), now Analyst at Apex Clean Energy (Charlottesville, VA).
Postdoctoral researchers: Hongbo Ma (2021), now Assistant Professor, Dept. of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, China.