Benjamin Janke

Ben Janke is a research associate at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota, working with the Natural Capital Project at the Institute on the Environment. His research as part of the Minnesota team and of the Sustainable Cities initiative has focused primarily on development and application of new models for InVEST, specifically for hydrologic ecosystem services (stormwater retention and flood mitigation) of urban watersheds. Ben's research interests broadly include many aspects of urban eco-hydrology, with a focus on management of stormwater-borne pollutants and excess nutrients, and related impacts to water quality of urban lakes and streams for both people and wildlife. His work has often been in collaboration with Minnesota state and local agencies, contributing to field data collection and instrumentation development, as well as synthesis of expansive stormwater data sets. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University, and earned a M.S. (2006) and PhD. (2011) in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota.