Two men are pictured: Mike Shultz with a beard on the left and Colin Plank wearing glasses on the right. Text reads: “Barriers to Groundwater Flow and Impacts on Remediation Decisions. Geosyntec Consultants.” A stream runs in the background.
Published On: February 9th, 2026

Mike Shultz and Colin Plank Coauthor Paper on Aquitards and their Impacts on Remediation Decisions

Mike Shultz, PhD, and Colin Plank, PG, coauthored “The Geology of Aquitards in Alluvial Aquifers: A Predictive Approach Based on Facies Models,” which was published on January 26, 2026, in Groundwater.

Mike is a Senior Principal Geologist based in Minnesota with more than 25 years of experience focused on applying advanced geologic concepts, including Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy (ESS) to reduce uncertainty and improve decision-making when addressing problems related to subsurface conditions. A thought leader in the groundwater industry, Mike has written peer-reviewed publications on conceptual site models for groundwater systems and has authored regulatory guidance documents on this topic.

Colin is a Senior Principal Geologist based in Michigan with more than 20 years of experience focused on developing geologically grounded, process-based conceptual site models to guide subsurface investigations, reduce remediation times, and improve site management. He helped develop the Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy (ESS) approach to aquifer characterization, which offers improved understandings of contaminant storage and transport pathways to support efficient remediation of subsurface contaminants.

Groundwater is the leading international journal focused exclusively on groundwater. Founded in 1963, it publishes a dynamic mix of papers on topics including groundwater flow and well hydraulics, hydrogeochemistry and contaminant hydrogeology, application of geophysics, groundwater management and policy, and history of groundwater hydrology.

More Information on Aquitards and their Impacts on Remediation Decisions

Read “The Geology of Aquitards in Alluvial Aquifers: A Predictive Approach Based on Facies Models.”
Learn more about Groundwater.
For more information on the geometry of barriers to groundwater flow, contact Mike at michael.shultz@geosyntec.com or Colin at colin.plank@geosyntec.com.
Learn more about Mike: Mike Shultz
Learn more about Colin: Colin Plank