Distinguished Member Miguel A. Mariño, U.S. representative to the International Association of Hydrological Sciences from 2003 through 2008 and a prolific groundwater hydrology researcher, has died. He was 76.
Mariño was distinguished professor emeritus of hydrologic sciences in the University of California, Davis departments of civil and environmental engineering, and biological and agricultural engineering. The products of Mariño’s research have been adopted around the world, advancing environmental hydrology; fluid transport processes and biogeochemical transformations in soils, aquifers, and rivers; and planning, design, and management of surface and subsurface reservoirs and irrigation systems.
After receiving his Ph.D. in civil engineering systems from UCLA in 1972, his career at UC Davis began as assistant professor of water science and civil engineering. In 1980 he advanced to professor of hydrologic sciences, and earned distinguished professor status in 2003. He transitioned to emeritus status with his retirement in 2009.
In 2015, ASCE’s Environmental and Water Research Institute gave Mariño its Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to groundwater hydrology. ASCE also honored him with the Richard R. Torrens Award in 1986 and the Julian Hinds Award in 1996. He was editor of ASCE’s Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management from 1984 to 1988. He had more than 200 articles published in Water Resources Research, the Journal of Hydrology, and the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, among many others. He was the first author of Seepage and Groundwater (Elsevier, 1982).
Mariño was a fellow of the American Water Resources Association and the American Geophysical Union. In 2016, he received the Groundwater Resources Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
As an instructor, Mariño trained 26 Ph.D. recipients and 59 master’s recipients, who carry on his legacy as hydrology professionals.
