Andrew Newcomb: Ph.D. student banks on the future of dams
Only months after completing his bachelor’s degree at Colby College and fresh from a stint as a field technician for the National Aquatic Monitoring Center based in Utah, Andrew Newcomb had no immediate plans to pursue a post-graduate degree.
Until, that is, he got wind of a Ph.D. research assistant position at UMaine as part of the Mitchell Center-led Future of Dams project. It was a game changer.
The Future of Dams work Newcomb will be doing involves investigation of the role of dams in the Penobscot River watershed and comparison of the research outcomes with dammed river networks in other New England settings.
“Hopefully, (this work) will provide some good insight into the decision making around whether we relicense these dams, upgrade them, or do anything at all,” said Newcomb.
The research approach will include spatial data analyses and hydrologic modeling to quantify the magnitude and rate of water flow moving through the river system at any given point, notes Sean Smith, assistant professor at the UMaine School of Earth and Climate Sciences, and the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions.
Read more about Newcomb’s research on the George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability website.