Fellow Name: Gloria “Andrea” Aguirre
Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental and Water Resources Systems Engineering
Year: 4th Year of M.S./PhD
Advisors: Professor Jeff Tester and Professor Jery Stedinger
Biography
My name is Gloria “Andrea” Aguirre, but friends and family call me Andrea. I was born in Monterrey, Mexico and moved to Houston, Texas with my family at the age of 12. I was always interested in science and math since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I reached college that I discovered my passion for environmental science and engineering. My college career started at a community college called Lone Star College in Houston, Texas. During my first two years, I participated in one extracurricular activity where I built a community organic garden. The experience of being able to influence the environment shaped my life in so many ways. I began to think more about the many challenges our world is facing to protect our natural environment, and the obligation I had to preserve it so that future generations can appreciate nature the way I did. Therefore, I decided to take action and pursue my studies in Environmental Engineering. At Lone Star College I obtained an Associate of Science and an Associate of Applied Science in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which taught me the art of mapping. Then, I moved to Dallas, Texas to attend Southern Methodist University (SMU), where I obtained a B.S. in Environmental Engineering. During my time at SMU, I was introduced to geothermal energy, and I became fascinated about using this renewable energy source. Geothermal energy is heat from the earth that can be converted to electricity, or used for heating and cooling buildings. To continue my interests in geothermal energy, I started at Cornell University as a graduate student in the area of Environmental and Water Resources Systems Engineering. I currently work with Professor Jefferson Tester and Professor Jery Stedinger at the Cornell Energy Institute. Aside from my studies and research at Cornell, I am passionate about music and foreign languages. I enjoy playing the cello and the classical guitar, and learning French and Italian.
Research Statement
Geothermal is a viable alternative energy since it is inexhaustible heat originated and stored in the Earth’s crust. Geothermal can produce both heat and power at competitive market costs. Our research aims to highlight areas with abundant heat from the earth that can be economically converted into usable energy.
Historically, the Appalachian Basin Province in New York State and Pennsylvania has not been carefully explored for geothermal energy in part because the resource was thought to be of modest quality, which would not make it feasible for electricity generation in today’s energy markets. However, instead of trying to convert heat into electricity, we can directly use this resource to keep our houses warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and therefore, reduce the use of electricity for our heating and cooling systems.
My research has focused on improving the current assessment of geothermal resources in the eastern U.S. – specifically in the States of New York and Pennsylvania. My interest is in quantifying the uncertainties associated with data management in resource assessment, and increasing the spatial accuracy and resolution of geothermal maps. The ultimate goal of my research is to highlight areas having high potential and low uncertainties for employing geothermal resources as direct-use for heating and cooling buildings or for combined heat and power (CHP) in areas of mid-to-low temperature regions. The proposed methodology include analysis of statistical and geostatistical techniques to explain the variability of available drill-log data for a region and the uncertainty in geothermal resource maps. The proposed methods have been employed to provide an assessment of the geothermal characteristics of the New York - Pennsylvania region for which drill-log information is available, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.