Jessica Ann Zinger LeRoy, Ph.D.

The Old Testament (Torah) begins: “1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” 

Today, my daughter-in-law, Jessica Zinger LeRoy, was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, after she successfully defended her dissertation on meandering rivers. Her study—which is largely over my head— explains how rivers change their shapes, and create bends and cutoffs, due to a complex set of hydraulic forces, and river bank and bed features.

Why should we know this? Well, as someone who has dealt with flooded basements over the years, I am glad scientists are studying how rivers transport huge volumes of rain water. Parenthetically, Jess explained that in “cutoff areas” there is growth of vegetation that provides support to birds, other animals, and plants in a river’s wider corridor. That's not the point of her study; but somehow, I like that idea.

But most of all, God created heaven and earth. If we understand river bends better, we have a glimpse of the infinite, as told by a scientist who has the gift of making these wonders more understandable for the rest of us. Mazel Tov to Jess.