Geoffrey Schladow, a UC Davis civil and environmental engineer since 1993, has been named the founding director of the new UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

Schladow is an expert in how currents and waves in lakes and estuaries affect the deposition of particles that induce algae growth and have caused Lake Tahoe's clarity to decline. He will be responsible for increasing involvement of faculty, students and visiting scholars in lake research. The center is also intended to foster greater public awareness of conservation efforts.

Schladow earned his doctorate in civil engineering at the University of Western Australia and a master's degree in hydraulic engineering from UC Berkeley.