Dr. Melissa Clutter

Dr. Melissa Clutter
Assistant Professor of Geosciences

Expertise:

  • Hydrology/Hydrogeology
  • Groundwater and subsurface modeling
  • Field measurement design
  • Science communication
  • Data worth analysis

Education

  • Ph.D., Hydrology, University of Arizona, 2019
  • Graduate Certificate, College Teaching, University of Arizona, 2019
  • Graduate Certificate, Connecting Environmental Science and Decision-Making ,University of Arizona, 2019
  • M.S., Soil Water and Environmental Science University of Arizona, 2016
  • B.S., Environmental Geology, Fort Lewis College, 2011

Contact:

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Media Contact

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About Dr. Melissa Clutter

Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as member of Cherokee Nation, Melissa moved to Durango for college. During her time as an undergrad, she fell in love with Fort Lewis College and the Four Corners region. After several years working at Chesapeake Energy, she attended graduate school with the very specific goal of “becoming a Fort Lewis College professor”. Now that Melissa has her dream job (!), she uses it as an avenue to pursue her passions of undergraduate teaching and communicating science to the public. Melissa specializes in groundwater research but likes to dip her toes in many disciplines of hydrologic research. The research she is most passionate about aims to help non-profits, government agencies, and private landowners make science-informed management decisions.   

Co-Director, Village Aid Project at FLC.

Textbooks

Clutter, M., Ferré, T.P., & Fandel, C., (2022). The Basics of Groundwater. Nova Science Publishing. Book.

Journal Articles 

Clutter, M., & DeJonge, K. (2022). Optimizing soil moisture sensor depth for irrigation management using universal multiple linear regression. Journal of the ASABE, 0.


Clutter, M., Ferré, T. P., Zhang, Z. F., & Gupta, H. (2019). Robust predictive design of field measurements for evapotranspiration barriers using universal multiple linear regression. Water Resources Research, doi: 10.1029/2019WR026194.

 
Clutter, M., and Ferré, T.P., (2019). Designing Robust, Cost-Effective Field Measurement Sets using Universal Multiple Linear Regression. Soil Science Society of America Journal. doi:10.2136/sssaj2018.09.0340 .
 
Clutter, M., and Ferré, T.P., (2018). Examining the potentials and limitations of using temperature tracing to infer water flux through unsaturated soils. Vadose Zone J. 17:170181. doi: 10.2136/vzj2017.10.0181.


Awards and highlights:

  • 2014-2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship 
  • 2016-2019 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Graduate Fellowship (Ph.D.) 
  • 2018 National Science Foundation: Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide 
  • 2018 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship for Overseas Researcher 
  • 2015-2016 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Graduate Fellowship (M.Sc.)