Arturo Palomino

Arturo Palomino is an intern with the Water Program, based in Davis, Calif. He is a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on hydraulic modelling, environmental fluid mechanics, and applied numerical methods, integrating physical process understanding with computational simulation and technical analysis to support water resources decision-making.

In his doctoral work, Arturo develops numerical models for bubble curtain and top-hat curtain systems and has built a Fortran- and C-based graphical user interface for 3D modelling and visualization of curtain performance under varying flow conditions and deployment scenarios. This tool supports scenario testing, model refinement and technical communication of hydraulic behavior.

At SEI, he is working on the Bolivia WATCH program, supporting a preliminary assessment of groundwater systems in watersheds under consideration for future lithium development. His work examines groundwater processes, management challenges, and uncertainties relevant to both resource development and ecosystem protection, while engaging with broader questions of water governance, Indigenous and community water uses, and the socio-environmental implications of lithium extraction in arid, high-altitude basins.

Arturo’s broader interests center on using applied mathematics, numerical and analytical modeLling, and computational tools to complex environmental systems in ways that are technically rigorous and policy-relevant.