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APPLICATION FOR THE PHI BETA DELTA
OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL SCHOLAR AWARD
CANDIDATE'S STATEMENT
MARCH 7, 2005
DR. VICTOR MIGUEL PONCE
I am honored to apply for the 2004-05 Phi Beta Delta Outstanding International Scholar Award. My international academic career spans almost 30 years, beginning in 1976, when I traveled to Pakistan to carry out field studies for my Ph.D. dissertation. Subsequently, and since joining the SDSU faculty in 1980, I have been involved in teaching and research activities in many countries, particularly in Latin America and Asia. In Latin America, I have been directly involved in research and teaching in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru. In Asia, my research has taken me to India and Pakistan. I have also taught at universities in Spain and Portugal. In 1989, I published a textbook, Engineering Hydrology, Principles and Practices (Prentice Hall). This book continues to be used at universities around the world, particularly in the U.S., Canada, and Asia.
In 1993, I spent a sabbatical leave at the Universidade Federal de Ceara, Brazil, studying droughts in the drought polygon of Brazil's Nordeste Region. Several years later, this experience was instrumental in the development of a conceptual model of drought characterization. In 1995, I played a key role in the environmental impact study for the proposed Parana-Paraguay Waterway. This work led to restrictions imposed on planned development in order to protect threatened ecosystems in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Since 1998, I have been actively involved in U.S.-Mexico border research, in activities that have been funded by the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP). Under my leadership as Principal Investigator, the Ojos Negros Binational Research Group completed two studies on groundwater depletion (2000-01) and environmental sustainability (2001-02) in the Ojos Negros valley, in Baja California. More recently (2003-04), I led another binational team of researchers in the design of Arroyo Alamar, in Tijuana, to reduce the impact of seasonal flooding in the area. Our interdisciplinary approach considered hydrological, ecological, social and economic factors involved in the multipurpose use of the river. Currently (2004-05), our research team is working on a similar project in the Tecate Creek watershed, which is part of the Tijuana River Basin. I am also working with the city of Tlaxiaco, in the High Mixtec region of Oaxaca, Mexico, in association with the Instituto Tecnologico de Tlaxiaco. Work is ongoing on the design of a specially constructed ecological wetland to clean up the Tlaxiaco river, polluted by sewage discharges. This wetland simulates natural processes to clean up wastewaters to secondary level, that is, more than 95% removal of contaminants.
I continuously interact with colleagues, correspondents, and counterparts in various universities overseas. Over the past eight years, I have taught ten short courses in several universities in Latin America. My website (http://ponce.sdsu.edu) is one of the most extensive academic websites in the United States. I continuously receive inquiries from people all over the world concerning my areas of expertise. The most recent example is my 1989 work on the Brazilian tidal wave or "pororoca," which was recognized when I was interviewed and subsequently quoted in an article published in the February 22, 2005 issue of National Geographic Magazine (http://news.nationalgeographic.com).
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