Regents’ Professor Bruce M. Thomson was appointed recently to a four-year term as director of the Water Resources Program at the University of New Mexico announced Peter L. White, dean, University College. Thomson replaces Michael E. Campana, who resigned to accept a similar position at Oregon State University.
“Under Professor Michael Campana, the Water Resources program has grown into a mature and attractive interdisciplinary graduate program,” said White. “The selection of Professor Bruce Thomson as the next director assures the university of the continuation and further development of Water Resources.
Thomson, a faculty-member in the Department of Civil Engineering at UNM, is familiar with the Water Resources Program having been involved since its inception. He has worked on research and education projects with Campana in the U.S., Honduras and Kazakhstan.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to work more closely with the students, faculty and staff in the Water Resources program,” said Thomson. “It is a great program that has flourished under the leadership of Dr. Michael Campana. Because of the enthusiasm and dedication of all of the participants, I am confident that it will continue to grow and will continue to produce outstanding young water resource professionals who will help address the challenges of water management in the arid environments of New Mexico and the western U.S.”
Thomson’s teaching and research focus on the transport and treatment of inorganic contaminants in water. He has received research support to work on projects involving a variety of metals including arsenic, chromium, copper, lead, molybdenum, nitrate and selenium.
His research has been supported by several federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Bureau of Mines, and a variety of foundation, state, and local agencies.
Thomson is the chair of the City of Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Groundwater Protection Advisory Board and has served as a consultant on water and wastewater treatment problems and remediation of contamination from mining and milling wastes to radioactive waste disposal.
Thomson earned a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Davis. He also holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Science and Engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu