Jon Golla |
University of New Mexico (UNM) graduate student Jon Golla (a GRC Member) conducts his research along the Jemez River in the natural laboratory of the Valles Caldera located in northern New Mexico. His scientific interests stem from an unfamiliarity with potable water during his childhood and from early exposure to geothermal energy in the Philippines, so the opportunity to work on the waters associated with the Valles Caldera Geothermal System was part of what drew him to graduate study at UNM.
Golla’s research focuses on his passions involving aqueous geochemistry and geothermal systems. Through this research, Golla is gaining a better understanding of the proximal and distal hydrogeologic influences of Valles Geothermal System on the upper Jemez River.
He received a $6,000 grant to help fund his research titled, Surface Water Quality Implications of Valles Caldera Geothermal Fluids on Jemez Watershed: A Holistic Hydrogeochemical Investigation as part of the Student Water Research Grants program through the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute (NM WRRI). He was also a 2017 GRC Scholarship Award winner.