Research

My research program focuses on modeling and measurement of mass and energy transport and distribution in porous media. Specific research interests include: (1) hydraulic behavior of swelling soils and liner materials; (2) interfacial pore scale phenomena affecting liquid organization and behavior in porous media; (3) preferential flow in structured soils and fractured rock; (4) liquid behavior in porous media under reduced gravity for space exploration; (5) stability and flow of fine granular materials; (6) application of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) for quantification of pore topological attributes. I am also interested in application and development of cutting-edge measurement techniques for in situ characterization of soil hydraulic properties.

  

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Soil Physics and Water Management, 1997, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, Austria

M.S., Civil Engineering and Water Management, 1993, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, Austria

 

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

1/07 - present Associate Professor of Soil & Environmental Physics, University of Arizona, Department of Soil, Water & Environmental Science

8/06 - 12/06 Associate Professor of Soil & Environmental Physics, University of Idaho Soil & Land Resources Division, PSES Department

8/01 - 7/06 Assistant Professor of Soil & Environmental Physics, University of Idaho Soil & Land Resources Division, PSES Department

4/97 - 7/01 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Utah State University
Department of Plants, Soils & Biometeorology

7/93 - 3/97 Research Assistant, University of Agricultural Sciences, Vienna, Austria Department of Hydraulics and Water Management

HONORS AND AWARDS

2005    Recognition by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development for Mentoring
2003    Soil Science Society of America S-1 Soil Physics Early Career Award
2003    Editors' Citation for Excellence in Manuscript Review - Vadose Zone Journal
2003    NASA Student Involvement Program NSIP Research Advisor Award
2002    UI Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching and Advising, University of Idaho
2002    Deans Commendation for Teaching Excellence, University of Idaho

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

- Associate Editor, Vadose Zone Journal
- Newsletter Editor & Webmaster for the Soil Science Society of America Soil Physics Division
- Committee Member and Webmaster for the Kirkham Conferences
- Technical member of the W-1188 Research Committee
- Panel review services for the NRI soil processes program
- Proposal review services for NRI-CGP, NSF, USGS-NIWR, BARD
- Peer review services for Advances in Water Resources, Austrian Journal of Agricultural Research, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Geoderma, Geophysical Research Letters, Hydrogeology Journal, Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ), Journal of Hydrology, Journal of Porous Media (JPM), Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Soil Science, Soil Science Society of America Journal (SSSAJ), Transport in Porous Media (TIPM), Vadose Zone Journal (VZJ), Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, and Water Resources Research (WRR)

Refereed Journals Articles

SAN JOSÉ MARTÍNEZ, F., M.A. MARTIN, F.J. CANIEGO, M. TULLER, A. GUBER, Y. PACHEPSKY, and C. GARCIA-GUTIÉRREZ, 2010. Multifractal analysis of discretized X-ray CT images for the characterization of soil macropore structures, Geoderma, doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2010.01.004.

IASSONOV, P., and M. TULLER, 2010. Application of Image Segmentation for Correction of Intensity Bias in X-Ray CT Images. Vadose Zone J., 9:1–5, doi:10.2136/vzj2009.0042.

IASSONOV, P., T. GEBRENEGUS, and M. TULLER, 2009. Segmentation of X-Ray CT Images of Porous Materials: A Crucial Step for Characterization and Quantitative Analysis of Pore Structures. Water Resour. Res., 45, W09415, doi:10.1029/2009WR008087.

AKRAM QAZI, M., M. AKRAM, N. AHMAD, J. ARTIOLA, and M. TULLER, 2009. Economical and Environmental Implications of Solid Waste Compost Applications to Agricultural Fields in Punjab, Pakistan. Waste Management, Waste Management, 29(9):2437-2445, doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2009.05.006.

OR, D., M. TULLER, and S.B. JONES, 2009. Liquid Behavior in Partially-Saturated Porous Media under Variable Gravity. Soil Sci Soc Am J, 73:341–350, doi:10.2136/sssaj2008.0046.

HEINSE, R., S.B. JONES, S.L. STEINBERG, M. TULLER, and D. OR, 2007. Measurements and Modeling of Variable Gravity Effects on Water Distribution and Flow in Unsaturated Porous Media. Vadose Zone J., 6:713-724, doi:10.2136/vzj2006.0105.

OR, D., R. FEDORS, S. STOTHOFF, and M. TULLER, 2006. Reply to comment by Stefan Finsterle on "Seepage into drifts and tunnels in unsaturated fractured rock". Water Resour. Res., Vol. 42, No. 7, W0760410.1029/2006WR005008.

KAWAMOTO, K., P. MOLDRUP, T.P.A. FERRÉ, M. TULLER, O.H. JACOBSEN, and T. KOMATSU, 2006. Linking the Gardner and Campbell Models for Water Retention and Hydraulic Conductivity in Near-Saturated Soils, Soil Science, Vol. 171, No. 8, 573-584.

SHIRA J.M., B.C. WILLIAMS, M. FLURY, S. CZIGANY, and M. TULLER, 2006. Sampling silica and ferrihydrite colloids with fiberglass wicks under unsaturated conditions. J. Environ. Qual., Vol. 35, No. 4, 1127-1134.

TULLER, M., and D. OR, 2005. Water films and scaling of soil characteristic curves at low water contents, Water Resour. Res., Vol. 41, No. 9, W0940310.1029/2005WR004142.

STEINBERG, S.L., G.J. KLUITENBERG, S.B. JONES, N.E. DAIDZIC, L.N. REDDI, M. XIAO, M. TULLER, R.M. NEWMAN, D. OR and J.I.D. ALEXANDER, 2005. Physical and hydraulic properties of baked ceramic aggregates used for plant growth medium. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 130(5):767-774.

OR, D., M. TULLER, and R. FEDORS, 2005. Seepage into drifts and tunnels in unsaturated fractured rock. Water Resour. Res., Vol. 41, No. 5, W0502210.1029/2004WR003689.

TULLER, M., and D. OR, 2003. Hydraulic Functions for Swelling Soils: Pore Scale Considerations. Journal of Hydrology, 272(1-4):50-71.

OR, D., and M. TULLER, 2003. Reply to comment on "Cavitation during desaturation of porous media under tension" by Toker, N.K., J.T. Germaine, and P.J. Culligan. Water Resour. Res., Vol. 39, No. 11, 1306.

OR, D., and M. TULLER, 2003. Hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated fractured porous media: Flow in a cross-section. Advances in Water Resources, Vol.26, No.8, 883-898.

TULLER, M., and D. OR, 2002. Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Structured Porous Media. Vadose Zone Journal, 1:14-37.

OR, D., and M. TULLER, 2002. Cavitation during desaturation of porous media under tension. Water Resour. Res., Vol.38, No.5, 19.

TULLER, M., and D. OR, 2001. Hydraulic conductivity of variably saturated porous media: Film and corner flow in angular pore space. Water Resour. Res., Vol.37, No.5, 1257-1276.

OR, D., and M. TULLER, 2000. Flow in unsaturated fractured porous media: Hydraulic conductivity of rough surfaces. Water Resour. Res., Vol.36, No.5, 1165-1177.

OR, D., and M. TULLER, 1999. Liquid retention and interfacial area in variably saturated porous media: upscaling from single pore to sample scale model. Water Resour. Res., Vol.35, No.12, 3591-3606.

TULLER, M., D. OR, and L.M. DUDLEY, 1999. Adsorption and capillary condensation in porous media -liquid retention and interfacial configurations in angular pores. Water Resour. Res., Vol.35, No.7, 1949-1964.

TULLER, M., M. K. SHUKLA, and W.LOISKANDL, 1997. Measurement of volumetric soil water content under field conditions with TDR and gypsum blocks. Österreichische Wasserwirtschaft ÖWAW, Vol.49, No.3-4, 64-69. (original in German)

CEPUDER, P., and M. TULLER, 1996. Simple field-testing sites to determine the extent of nitrogen leaching from agricultural areas. In N. Ahmad, Nitrogen Economy in Tropical Soils, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 355-361.

CEPUDER, P., CH. SAILER, and M. TULLER, 1992. Field-testing sites for the determination of nitrate leaching from agricultural areas. Die Bodenkultur, Austrian Journal for Agricultural Research, Vol.43, No.4, 295-306. (original in German)

Book Chapters

TULLER, M., and M.R. ISLAM, 2005. Field methods for monitoring solute transport. In J. Álvarez-Benedí and R. Muñoz-Carpena (Eds.), Soil-Water-Solute Process Characterization: An Integrated Approach, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp.309-355.

TULLER, M., and D. OR, 2004. Water retention and characteristic curve. In D. Hillel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment - Volume 4, Elsevier Ltd., Oxford, U.K., pp.278-289.

OR, D., M. TULLER, and J.M. WRAITH, 2004. Water potential. In D. Hillel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment - Volume 4, Elsevier Ltd., Oxford, U.K., pp.270-277.

OR, D., and M. TULLER, 2004. Capillarity. In D. Hillel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment - Volume 1, Elsevier Ltd., Oxford, U.K., pp.155-163.

OR, D., and M. TULLER, 2001. Adsorption and capillary processes in variably saturated porous media - Pore scale hydrostatic and hydrodynamic considerations. In: H. Magdi Selim and Donald L. Sparks (editors) "Physical and Chemical Processes of Water and Solute Transport/Retention in Soils", SSSA Special Publication No.56, pp.1-50, ISBN 0-89118-835-5.

Conference Proceedings

HEINSE, R., S.B. JONES, M. TULLER, G.E. BINGHAM, I. PODOLSKIY, and D. OR, 2009. Providing Optimal Root-Zone Fluid Fluxes: Effects of Hysteresis on Capillary-Dominated Water Distributions in Reduced Gravity. Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), July 2009, Savannah, GA. SAE Technical Paper 2009-01-2360

GEBRENEGUS, T., M. TULLER, and B. MUHUNTHAN, 2006. The Application of X-ray Computed Tomography for Characterization of Surface Crack Networks in Bentonite-Sand Mixtures. In: J. Desrues, G. Viggiani, and P. Besuelle (Eds.), Advances in X-Ray Tomography for Geomaterials, pp. 207-212, ISTE Publishing Company, ISBN:1905209606.

TULLER, M., and D. OR, 2006. Hydraulic Properties of Swelling Clay-Sand Mixtures: Microscale Modeling and Measurements. In: G.A. Miller, C.E. Zapata, S.L. Houston, D.G. Fredlund (Eds.), Unsaturated Soils, Geotechnical Special Publication No.147, Vol.2, 2186-2197, ASCE, Reston, VA.

VIOLA, R., M. TULLER, D. OR, and J. DRASDIS, 2005. Microstructure of Clay-Sand Mixtures at Different Hydration States. In A. Tarantino, E. Romero, Y.J. Cui (Eds.), Advanced Experimental Unsaturated Soil Mechanics, Taylor & Francis, Leiden, The Netherlands, pp.437-442.

HEINSE, R., S.B. JONES, S.D. HUMPHRIES, R.W. MACE, S.L. STEINBERG, M. TULLER, R. NEWMAN, and D. OR, 2005. Measurement of Porous Media Water Retention during Parabolic Flight Induced Microgravity. Proceedings of the 33rd International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), July 2005, Rome, Italy. SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-2950.

STEINBERG, S.L., S.B. JONES, M. XIAO, D. OR, L. REDDI, J.I.D. ALEXANDER, G. KLUITENBERG, N. DAIDZIC, and M. TULLER, 2005. Challenges to Understanding Fluid Behavior in Plant Growth Media Under Microgravity. Proceedings of the 33rd International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), July 2005, Rome, Italy. SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-2947.

STEINBERG, S., I. ALEXANDER, N. DAIDZIC, S. JONES, G. KLUITENBERG, D. OR, L. REDDI, and M. TULLER, 2002. Flow and distribution of fluid phases through porous plant growth media in microgravity: Progress to date. Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), July 15-18, 2002, San Antonio, Texas, USA. SAE Technical Paper 2002-01-2386.