Illinois State Water Survey

I am a hydrogeologist in the Groundwater Section at the Illinois State Water Survey. My major research interest is understanding how Illinois' glacial legacy and humans impact the shallow aquifer, a combined system of glacially deposited sediments (sand, gravels, clay) overlying a fractured dolomite bedrock. My recent focus has been on understanding water quality in the shallow aquifer throughout northeast Illinois and towards that I have led county wide studies in Lake County and Kane County, collaborated with stakeholders to understand pathways that drive localized contamination to their wells, and developed groundwater flow and chloride transport models.

In Peer Reviewed Journals

Cullen, C., Abrams, D.B., Mannix, D.H., Kelly W.R. (2023) “Calibrating a groundwater flow and chloride transport model to 30 years of data” Journal of American Water Resources Association (special issue, 125^th Anniversary of the Illinois State Water Survey) https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13105

Abrams, D.B., Cullen, C., Shomami, F.G. (2023) “What is a Static Head Measurement? Understanding Inherent Noise and Implications for Groundwater Modeling” Journal of American Water Resources Association (special issue, 125^th Anniversary of the Illinois State Water Survey) https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13102

Cullen, C., Anders, A.M., Lai, J., Druhan, J.L. (2021) “Numerical modeling of groundwater-driven stream network evolution in low-relief post-glacial landscapes”, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5278

Open Source University of Illinois Publications (IDEALS)

Cullen, C., D.R. Hadley, 2024. Recent trends in Sugar Grove Township’s shallow groundwater informed by 5 years of water level monitoring and 3 years of water quality sampling. ISWS-CR-2024-02 https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121903

Cullen, C., M.P. Krasowski, D.B. Abrams, A.E. Jones, P. Xia, V. Iordache, V. Smykalov, W.R. Kelly. 2024. Groundwater Quality within Natural Areas of Lake County: How Past and Present Data Illuminate Characteristics of the Shallow Aquifer. ISWS-CR-2024-01 https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121887

Zhang, Z., D.B. Abrams, L. De La Guardia, C. Cullen, E. Gulsen, W.R. Kelly, V. Iordache, V. M.P. Krasowski. 2023. Water Supply Planning: Assessment of Water Resources for Water Supply in the Lower Illinois Region. ISWS-CR-2023-02 https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120032

Cullen, C., Abrams, D.B. 2022. Current State of Two Aquifer Systems in Chicago’s Southwest Suburbs and Risks to Remaining Water Supply ISWS-CR-2022-02 https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116996

Byard, G., Rhoads, B., Schmidt, A., Hudson, R., Sangwan, N., Cullen, C., Mannix, D., Kelly W., Meem, T., Gardner, M., Fouts, L., Gross, H., Zavalza, A. 2022. Watershed-Specific Release Rate Analysis Phase III: Cook County, Illinois. ISWS-CR-2022-03 https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117016

Kelly, W.R., Mannix, D.H., Cullen, C., Krasowski M.P., Abrams, D.B. 2022. Groundwater Quality within the Silurian Dolomite Aquifer in Will County, 2021. ISWS-CR-2022-01 https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114354