Randy Stotler

Dr. Randy Stotler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences who studies the role and consequences of environmental change on groundwater availability.

His research uses a variety of isotopic, geochemical and physical techniques, integrating large datasets to better characterize the connections between environmental and climate change, groundwater availability and critical zone evolution. Stotler's research spans landscapes across North America, reaching into Africa and Asia, including deserts, mountains, prairies, steppe, permafrost and agricultural lands. His research provides insight into the dynamics of groundwater recharge, groundwater-surface water interactions and anthropogenic and geogenic contamination in these varied environments. Stotler also works to develop and refine our understanding of various traditional and non-traditional environmental tracers, which help constrain groundwater age, water sources and solute and contaminant sources and the processes affecting their concentration in water.

Stotler's investigations are critical as changing climate, land cover and land use, and water demand are increasing strain on water resources. This research is especially critical in areas where extreme weather events are increasing frequently, such as drought-prone regions. By improving understanding groundwater availability, recharge pathways and water age, his research supports sustainable water management. It helps communities, ecosystems and policymakers adapt to climate and land‑use change, ensuring reliable water supplies for drinking, agriculture and environmental health now and in the future.

• Isotope geochemistry

• Hydrology

• Groundwater

• Critical zone science

• Water resource sustainability

• Land use change

• Climate change and geosciences

• Protection of surface and groundwater resources

• Sustainable water use and management

• 2009, MSc Earth Sciences, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo

• 2003, MSc Earth Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo

• 2000, BS Water Science (with Honors), Geology Minor, Department of Biosystems Engineering, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• 2012, 2017, Leo M. & Robert M. Orth Water Resources Award

• 2007, International Association of Geochemistry Faure Award

• 2025 – Present, Committee for Groundwater Advocacy (IAH Canada) - Communications Co-Lead

• 2025, University of Waterloo Teaching Excellence Academy Faculty Facilitator

• 2024 – 2025, IAH Canada Subcommittee on Canadian Freshwater Agency Member

• 2022 – 2025, Geological Society of America Birdsall-Dreiss Nomination Committee Member

• 2021 – Present, International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) Canada - Communications Director

• 2019 – 2024, Kansas Drinking Water Protection Technical Team

• 2017 – 2020, The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Review Board, Airport Cooperative Research Program, Panel 02-87, Methods for Evaluating Airfield Pavement Deicer Contributions to Airport Stormwater Quality, Panel Member

• EARTH 223 - Field Methods in Hydrology
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
• EARTH 458 - Physical Hydrogeology
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• For the full list of Randy Stotler's publications, please see Google Scholar.

• McIntosh, J., Engle, M., Stotler, R., Ferguson, G., 2025, Geochemistry of groundwater (major and trace elements), in Treatise on Geochemistry, 3rd Edition, Volume 3: Earth’s surface envelope: freshwater, groundwater, and atmosphere, pp. 347-386, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-99762-1.00027-9.

• Boumaiza, L., Stotler, R.L, Mayer, B., Matiatos, I., Sacchi, E., Otero, N., Johannesson, K.H., Huneau, F., Chesnaux, R., Blarasin, M., Re, V., Knöller, K. (2024). How the δ18O-NO3 versus δ15N-NO3 plot can be used to identify a typical expected isotopic range of denitrification for NO3-impacted groundwaters. Environmental Science & Technology Water 4 (12): 5243-5254, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.4c00796. Selected as ACS ES&T Editor’s Choice.

• Boumaiza, L., Stotler, R.L., Frape, S.K. 2024. A review of the major chemical and isotopic characteristics of groundwater in crystalline rocks of the Canadian Shield. Chemical Geology, 669, 122366, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122366

• Salley, K.A., Stotler, R.L., Johnson, W.C., Burt, D.J., Hirmas, D.R., Fiefeld, K., Bowen, M.W., Kastens, J.H., Ryuh, Y.-G. 2022, Hydrology of a hydroperiod: assessing recharge to the High Plains aquifer through a playa in western Kansas. Journal of Hydrology 612, C, 128141, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128141.

• Stotler, R.L., M.F. Kirk, K.D. Newell, R.H. Goldstein, S.K. Frape, R. Gwynne, 2021, Stable bromine isotopic composition of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) produced water, the occurrence of enriched 81Br, and implications for fluid flow in the Midcontinent, USA. Minerals, 11, 358, 23p, https://doi.org/10.3390/min11040358.