Mindy Erickson

Background & Expertise 

Melinda (Mindy) Erickson, PhD, is a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and adjunct faculty member of the University of Minnesota. She has been working in the hydrogeology field since 1993. She started her career in consulting but shifted to groundwater-related research in 1998. Her first research was conducted with the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Since 2009 she’s been a researcher with the USGS. Erickson has BS and MS degrees in geological/civil engineering, and a PhD in water resources science, all from the University of Minnesota. Erickson’s primary research interest is the geochemistry, fate, and transport of groundwater contaminants from geogenic sources (from geology, for example arsenic, manganese, radionuclides) and anthropogenic sources (from people, for example nitrate, organics). Her research supports science-based policies and decision-making to protect public health, and to educate and inform private well users about common contaminants in drinking water wells.