Faculty Profile for Dr. Robert Mace

profile photo for Dr. Robert Mace
Dr. Robert Mace
Exec Dir, Meadows Ctr — Meadows Ctr for Water & the Environment
Professor of Practice — Dept of Geography & Environmntl Studies
SLH 229
phone: (512) 245-9201
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Growing up in rural Illinois, Robert developed a love of math and rocks which drew him to pursuing a geophysics degree at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. While in New Mexico, Robert developed an interest in water and stayed at New Mexico Tech to earn a masters degree in hydrology. Love and music pulled him to Austin, Texas, where he joined the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin. While there, he leveraged a hydrogeologic project for the Superconducting Supercollider into a Ph.D. on contaminant transport in fractured chalk. Robert then used his numerical groundwater modeling skills to develop the first groundwater availability model for Texas which led to a position at the Texas Water Development Board. Robert worked at the Board for 18 years where he rose to be Deputy Executive Administrator for Water Science and Conservation overseeing programs in groundwater resources and management, surface-water resources and environmental flows, water conservation, flood mitigation, and innovative technology including desalination, water reuse, aquifer storage and recovery, and rainwater harvesting. After retiring on Halloween in 2017, Robert joined The Meadows Center for Water and Environment and the Geography Department at Texas State University where he continues work on water issues for Texas.

Teaching Interests

 water and policy

Research Interests

 groundwater governance, water resources, climate change and water resources

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Cook, M. A., Tremaine, D. M., Wyatt, B. M., Banner, J. L., Charles, J., Berg, M., … Niyogi, D. (n.d.). Addressing challenges to ensuring justice and sustainability in policy and infrastructure for Texas water resources in the 21st century. Texas Water Journal.
  • Mace, R. E. (2024, January 2). outlook+water: Drought improvements continue, drought blazes in Central and Far West Texas, and El Niño may end early. Texas + Water.
  • Mace, R. E., & Jones, C. (2023). Frac sand facilities and their potential effects on the groundwater resources of the Monahans-Mescalero Sand Ecosystem, Permian Basin, Texas. Texas Water Journal, 14(1), 62–80.
  • Mace, R. E. (2023). Sustainability signaling in aquifers.
  • Zhang, Y., & Mace, R. E. (2023). Comparative Flow Analysis between the Pedernales River and Barton and Onion Creeks. San Marcos, Texas: The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Texas State University.

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Nominee: , Alpha Chi. 2022
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Rainmaker Award, Texas Water Foundation. May 7, 2019
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Rainmaker Award, Texas Water Foundation. May 7, 2019
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Texas Water Innovation Hall of Fame, AccelerateH2O. June 15, 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Bureau of Economic Geology Alumnus of the Year Award, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin. June 1, 2015

Selected Service Activities

Member
Project Bedrock
2023-Present
Member
Advisory Board, National Hantush-Deju Hydrologic Innovation Center
2022-Present
Member
The Groundwater Roundtable
2022-Present
Member
Water Conservation Advisory Council
2021-Present
Member
Water Conservation Expert Panel, Harris-Galveston Subsidence District
2021-Present