Adam Shelley, M.S.
Research Communications Specialist
Research Interest and Expertise
James received his Master's degree from Western Kentucky University (WKU). His expertise and research focus on stormwater and flooding in urban karst areas. James' Master's thesis primarily focused on modeling and evaluating the impacts of Class V Injection Wells on urban karst hydrology and the potential policy overlap between the NPDES MS4 program and SDWA UIC regulations. James always strives to tailor his research to result in practical applications that utilize data-driven approaches to provide policy recommendations, BMP improvements, and improved stormwater design in urban karst areas.Â
Previously, James worked with the Center for Human GeoEnvironmental Studies at Western Kentucky University and helped manage numerous environmental research projects and private sector consulting contracts. Notably, in his position at the Center, James assisted with designing, installing, and operating one of the largest real-time hydrometeorological monitoring networks in the State of Kentucky. Before his work at the Center, James worked at the City of Bowling Green Environmental Compliance Division (CoBG ECD), assisting with their KPDES MS4 permit Compliance. His experience with the CoBG ECD, other MS4s, and permit holders across various sectors has enabled him to gain a comprehensive understanding of Federal, State, and local environmental regulations and associated permitting processes.
Working for many years as a data science professional, James has become well versed in numerous analytical techniques and data management strategies for large datasets. James's research interests are currently aimed at leveraging machine learning (Deep Learning) frameworks to develop techniques for hydrometeorological modeling and GIS applications. However, his most persistent passion keeps him fixated on improving the scientific data visualization and research translation.Â
Publications
Ormsbee, L., Koyagi, E.R., McNeil, D., Shelley, A. and Lucas, V. A., 2023. Kentucky Water and Wastewater Workforce Survey. Journal of American Water Works Association, 115(6), pp.56-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/awwa.2126
Tobin, B.W., Polk, J.S., Arpin, S.M., Shelley, A. and Taylor, C., 2020. A conceptual model of epikarst processes across sites, seasons, and storm events. Journal of Hydrology, 596, p. 125692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125692
Lerch, R.N., Groves, C.G., Polk, J.S., Miller, B.V., Shelley, A., 2018. Atrazine Transport through a Soil-Epikarst System. Journal of Environmental Quality, 47, p. 1205-1213.
https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2017.12.0492
Workshops
Polk, J., Shelley, A., 2020. Tools and Techniques for Urban Karst Hydrology and Hazard Monitoring Management. Workshop held at the UNESCO Karst 2020, Virtual.
Polk, J., Shelley, A., Kaiser, R., 2018 Advanced Methods for Monitoring and Sampling in Karst Groundwater Systems. Workshop held at the Annual Expo for the National Groundwater Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Recent Conference Presentations
Shelley, A., Polk, J., Lawler, T., 2022. Evaluating the Impact of Antecedent Conditions and Precipitation Variability on Hydrologic Response in Karst Environments. Research presented at Groundwater Week for the National Groundwater Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Lawler, T., Polk, J., Shelley, A., 2022. A Predictive Flood Model for Urban Karst Environments. Research presented at Groundwater Week for the National Groundwater Association, Las Vegas, NV.
McKinney, D., Polk, J., Shelley, A., 2021 Developing the Bowling Green Hydronet: Collecting and Applying High-Resolution Precipitation Data in an Urban Karst Groundwater Basin. Research presented at the Annual Conference of the American Meteorological Society, Virtual.
Polk, J., Shelley, A., Troxell, J., Powell, M., 2020 Gasoline and Groundwater: Emergency Management and Remediation of an Urban Karst Contamination Event. Research presented at the Annual Conference of the Geological Society of America, Virtual.
Polk, J., Shelley, A., 2019 Evapotranspiration Effects on Spring Flow and Seasonal Recharge Dynamics in Karst Groundwater Systems. Research presented at the Annual Conference of the Geological Society of America, Phoenix, AZ.
Shelley, A., Polk, J., North, L., Powell, M., and Crawford, N., 2018 Modeling and Evaluating the Influences of Class V Injection Wells on Urban Karst Hydrology. Research presented at the Annual Expo for the National Groundwater Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Polk, J., Shelley, A., 2018 Karst Science and Big Data: Advances and Challenges in Monitoring and Studying Karst Systems. Research presented at the Annual Conference of the Geological Society of America, Indianapolis, IN.
Shelley, A., Polk, J. 2018 The Past, Present, And Future, of Environmental Data Management in Karst Systems. Research presented at the Annual Conference of the Geological Society of America, Indianapolis, IN.