PNNL

Dr. Abigale Snortland is a postdoctoral researcher in the Coastal Sciences Division at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where she is developing marine energy technologies and environmental monitoring strategies. Her recent work includes determining specifications for the procurement of tidal turbines to power a floating recharge station and implementing strain gauges in turbine blades and mooring lines for collision and entanglement detection. Her prior and current work has leveraged both experimental and data-driven methods. During her PhD studies at the University of Washington, Snortland used particle image velocimetry to experimentally capture flow fields in and around cross-flow tidal turbines to investigate relationships between the hydrodynamics and turbine performance. Her work provided important insights into the fundamental operation of these devices and potential pathways for improving their performance.

• Development of cross-flow tidal turbines
• Marine energy–powered ocean platforms
• Environmental monitoring of marine renewable energy
• Employing data-driven methods

• Particle image velocimetry
• Experimental fluid dynamics

• PhD in mechanical engineering, University of Washington, 2024
• BS in mechanical engineering, Montana State University, 2018

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow

2024

• Snortland, A., Hunt, A., Williams, O., & Polagye, B. (2025). Influence of the downstream blade sweep on cross-flow turbine performance. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 17(1).

2023

• Snortland, A., Scherl, I., Polagye, B., & Williams, O. (2023). Cycle-to-cycle variations in cross-flow turbine performance and flow fields. Experiments in Fluids, 64(12), 188. DOI:10.1007/s00348-023-03725-5

2021

• Dave, M., Strom, B., Snortland, A., Williams, O., Polagye, B., & Franck, J. A. (2021). Simulations of intracycle angular velocity control for a crossflow turbine. AIAA Journal, 59(3), 812-824.