Dr. Christine Hatch
Say hello to Dr. Christine Hatch, the first researcher being highlighted during our new social media and blog series: Get to Know the Scientists & Research of LO. This series will feature content about the people behind the amazing work happening at Living Observatory.
Dr. Christine Hatch is an Extension Associate Professor in the geosciences department at UMass Amherst, and a dedicated research scientist with a focus on water: hydrogeology, water resources and climate change, ecohydrology, surface water, and groundwater interactions are a few areas of her expertise.
Watch clips of Dr. Hatch in the field on LO’s Instagram or Facebook:
A Few Questions with Dr. Christine Hatch
How did you get your start, or what are some significant job experiences you’ve had?
Once upon a time I thought I wanted to be an architect. The combination of art and problem solving immediately appealed to me, but working for one straight out of college decidedly did not. I went back to my passion (and Geology major), and followed the work to water. Quickly I found I wanted to drive explorations on my own, and headed back to academia.
How did you end up in the field of research? What are some of your biggest projects, discoveries, or scientific accomplishments?
I grew up with a creek in the backyard, and attended my first public meeting about the fate of our creek’s water at the age of 5. The Wasatch range in the Rocky Mountains held my childhood skyline, and time in the silence of the desert injected me with early understanding and curiosity about geology and where water goes. Probably my most cited accomplishment to date is called “The Hatch Method” by a colleague: it is the development of a method for quantifying exchange between surface water (lakes and rivers) and groundwater using temperature as a tracer.
What drew you to the Living Observatory, and how did you get involved?
I LOVE the Living Observatory! I was drawn to it from day one. As extension faculty I am always thinking of ways to get the really great things we do ‘out there’ into the world. Scientists are rarely great at this. Living Observatory’s intimate relationship with the MIT Media Lab, that is preternaturally skilled at pushing information out to the public – to many publics – provided a natural alliance with a truly wonderful group of scientists and practitioners to not only collaborate on great works together, and also to get the information out to people who want to learn it. LO is really my ideal playground that bridges scientific collaboration, real influence on smart policy, outreach that makes a difference, and gratifying professional networking.
What is your favorite tool to bring out into the field?
One of my favorite tools to bring into the field is a thermal camera. On a carefully selected day when it’s really cold, the thermal camera can make visible the invisible, and help us see where warm groundwater rises to the surface and mixes with the surface water.
What is the funniest or strangest thing that’s ever happened in the field?
Once, I was standing in the stream measuring streamflow at Foothills Preserve, just before the restoration began there in 2019. Suddenly, something hard rammed straight into my leg! What was THAT? A river otter??? By the time I had figured it out and thought to capture a picture, it was long gone. Happily, after the restoration, near the same location, we spotted the otter again – and it was still too quick for us to photograph!
Then there were the countless times that I’ve been covered in peat from head to toe…
L.O. is an organization that strives to educate. What have you learned at L.O. apart from your scientific discoveries?
Everything depends on teamwork and we all need each other to make this happen. Education and outreach is only as good as the science behind it – and the science is only as good as word of it getting out into the public’s ears. Good policy comes from strong alliances with scientists from before the planning stages, and a mutual trust and respect.
Where can we find you when you’re not in the field?
If I had my way, I’d say you could find me on a mountain somewhere, but realistically I’d probably be in my office at UMass or home.
Do you have advice for young scientists or those interested in exploring earth-science fields?
I love what I do. I get to be my own boss (though I am responsible to others), I get to pursue research that inspires me with people I enjoy interacting with. I also genuinely appreciate working in a field that has real applications to real people - that in some way, however small, I am improving the quality of life for future generations and ensuring the safety and quality of our water resources, wetlands and rivers.
Advice: Get involved in a field project as a volunteer or intern, and see if you like it. Take quantitative courses (math, physics, chemistry) early and often - your continuous, cumulative knowledge in these subjects will build strong skills you can call on later, and these courses are much more difficult if you go back to them after many years of not being in school.
Talk about an experience that changed the way you view your work (inspired you more than any other, altered the way you approach projects, etc...)
I sometimes get lost in the moment when I describe my work – something weird I observed like the ‘water’s breath’ – or a phenomenon I experienced or felt or measured that nagged at me until I understood it – and can lose track of time as I talk. On one of those occasions, one of my students broke into genuine applause, and said ‘Great Talk!’ Another, a colleague said, ‘Wow, you really love what you do!’ I thought, of course I do, doesn’t everybody? But I guess that isn’t true that everybody loves what they do, and in fact, I’m both extremely lucky to be inspired daily by my work, and to have found this passion and get paid for following it.
Thank you to Dr. Christine Hatch for all her incredible work at Living Observatory.
Read more about her here:
https://www.geo.umass.edu/people/christine-hatch
And explore her work here:
Earth Matters: Stunning perspectives now democratized by drones. Feb 8 2021
Earth Matters: Restoring a wetland despite a drought. Nov 28 2020
Danielle K. Hare, David F. Boutt, William Clement, Christine Hatch, Glorianna Davenport, Alex Hackman, Hydrogeological controls on spatial patterns of groundwater discharge in peatlands, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, MS No.: hess-2017-282, MS Type: Research article, June 2017
