Amy Hansen receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for water research in Chile

LAWRENCE — Amy Hansen, associate professor of civil & environmental engineering at University of Kansas, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to conduct research in Chile for the 2026-2027 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Hansen will conduct field research investigating how different water sources mix in natural environments, focusing on variations in water density, like saltwater intrusion into estuaries, urban runoff entering rivers and glacial meltwater combining with nonglaciated runoff. She will measure water velocity and concentration profiles across different sites to understand how the differences in density due to salinity influence the movement and interaction of water systems.

At KU, Hansen studies water quality in surface waters, working to understand how factors such as vegetation and watershed structure influence water quality, primarily in streams, wetlands and rivers. By examining the interplay between biological and physical processes, her research investigates how vegetation-induced currents increase local mixing and thereby deliver nutrients and organic carbon to areas where microorganisms can process them.

Through the Fulbright Program, Hansen will collaborate with researchers in Chile, including computational fluid dynamics expert Cristian Escauriaza, whose mathematical modeling complements her field-based research. Chile’s diverse geography and ecosystems make it an ideal location for this work.

“Chile is this really long, skinny country that covers many different climates and ecosystems. So, because it has all that variability, there are a lot of opportunities to find this phenomenon that I'm looking for where we have this shear mixing happening due to density gradients,” Hansen said.

In addition to her Fulbright award, Hansen received support from KU’s Latin America Fund to extend her research to Patagonia, where she will study mixing in glacial meltwater systems.

Hansen will be in Chile beginning spring 2027 and will be abroad for three months.

Fulbright U.S. Scholars are accomplished faculty, researchers, administrators and established professionals in partnership with institutions around the world. Through these affiliations, they expand their professional networks and often seed future research, innovation and institutional partnerships. When they return home to their campuses, Fulbright Scholars share their experiences and insights, becoming champions of international collaboration. Many go on to host visiting scholars and inspire colleagues and students to pursue transformative opportunities abroad.

Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support.