PEOPLE
Dr. Celso Ferreira
Short Bio
Dr. Celso Ferreira is an Assistant Professor in the Civil, Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering Department of George Mason University, specializing in water resources engineering. He is also an Associate Researcher at the USGS National Research Program. His current research interests are associated to water related extreme weather hazards and its impacts to civil engineering infrastructure. Dr. Celso Ferreira has authored over 20 technical publications and his research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Interior (DOI), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and several private organizations. He was recently appointed a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. He has more than 10 years of experience working in consulting projects related to water resources, environmental and coastal engineering in the US and Brazil.
Education
Ph.D. Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, August 2012
M.S. Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, March 2007
M.E. Basic and Applied Hydrology, CEDEX – Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas, Spain, August 2006
B.S. Civil Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, 2003
Doctoral Students
Seth Brown
B.S. Civil Engineering, Christian Brothers University
M.S. Civil Engineering, Univeristy of Maryland
Research interests: use of agent-based modeling platforms to simulate investments in green stormwater infrastructure for market-based incentive programs and the impacts these investments will have on water resources.
* Co-Advised by Dr. Mark Houck.
Link to personal research website
Gustavo Coelho
M.S. Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, Water Resources, University of Sao Paulo, 2014
B.S. Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, 2010
Research interests: Water Resources Management and Hydrologic & Hydraulic Modeling, mainly related to flooding mitigation strategies in urban and coastal areas aiming to improve resilience and adaptation. He has more than 8 years of experience in consulting projects related water resources and environmental engineering in Brazil and France.
Arslaan Khalid
B.E. in Civil Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad,Pakistan (2015)
Research interests: Nature based Coastal Defenses for Hurricane Flooding (Wetland's potential for attenuating Coastal flooding), Application of GIS and Remote Sensing, Strom Surge Modelling,Weather Forecasting Systems,Flood hazard mapping,Wetlands and Coastal restoration.
Seth Lawler
B.A. History, San Francisco State University
B.S. Civil Engineering, George Mason Univeristy
M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy
Research interests: Seth is a water resources engineer at Dewberry, where he develops python tools and surface water models for coastal and riverine flood studies. As a masters student at GMU he focused on coastal engineering applications, investigating the behavior of storm surge through marsh wetlands and barrier island systems using the ADCIRC and SWAN hydrodynamic and wave models. Seth's current research focus is directed toward improving modeling capability—in real time or near real time—in areas influenced by coastal and riverine flood processes.
Link to personal research website
Ali Mohammad Rezaie
B.S. Water Resources Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), (2012)
M.S. Water Resources Development, Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) (BUET), (2015)
Research interests: Rezaie is a doctoral researcher working on integrating science and policy through combining the coupled version of coastal hydrodynamic (ADCIRC) and wave (SWAN) models with economic analysis to quantify nature based protective ecosystem service for current and future climate change and sea level rise scenarios. His previous research involved application of HECRAS and Delft 3D modeling to characterize coastal and estuarine flow dynamics, and flooding scenarios in the coastal regions of Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta. For his master's dissertation he developed a real time storm surge inundation prediction system for Bangladesh.
Link to personal research website
Selina Jahan Sumi
B.S. in Water Resources Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh (2012)
M.S. in Civil Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana, USA (2015)
Research interests: Coastal Hydrology and Hydraulics, Ecology and Ecohydrology, Watershed Planning and Management, Application of GIS and Remote Sensing, Numerical and Physical Modeling in Water Resources Problems.
Richard Weisman, P. E.
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca New York
M.S. in Civil (Environmental) Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Research interests: Potable drinking water systems, water quality and public health protection, distribution systems, risk balancing between protection from pathogens and disinfection by-products, integration of source water quality and drinking water quality, impacts of precursor components on water quality, effects of climate change on drinking water quality.
Sherwin Zahirieh
M.S. Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (Expected Fall 2017)
B.S. Civil and Infrastructure Engineering ,George Mason University (Spring 2016)
Research area: Applications of Drone Technology in Water Resources Engineering, Stormwater Management, STEAM Education
Master Students
Tyler Miesse
B.S. Civil, Environmental and Infrastructural Engineering, George Mason University (Expected Spring 2018)
Research area: Coastal flood hazards modeling with XBEACH and field observation of coastal extreme events
Brayan Pozo
B.S. Civil Engineering and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University (2016)
M.S. Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, George Mason University (Expected Spring 2019)
Research interests: Nature-based Coastal Defenses for Wave Attenuation, Sea-level Rise, and Storm Surge Flooding (XBeach and storm surge hydrodynamic modeling using ADCIRC), Flood hazard mapping (HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, and ArcGIS), Hydrodynamic field monitoring (Deal Island, MD and Belmont Bay, VA).
Tuğkan Tanır
B.S. Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University(2016)
M.S. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, George Mason University
Research Interests: Hydrology, Risk Assessment, Flood/Drought Vulnerability Assessment, Climate Change Modelling, Downscaling methods FOR Climate Change Projections, Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources and Adaptation, Climate Impacts on Society,
Şükrü Uzun
B.S. Environmental Engineering, Middle East Technical University (2016)
M.S Environmental & Water Resources Engineering, George Mason University (Expected Spring 2020)
Research Interests: Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources and Adaptation, Sea-Level Rise, Climate Change, Water Resources, Storm Surge Modeling, Coastal Flood Hazard Modeling, River Flood Hazard Modeling
High School Interns
William O'Connell
Web Developer
Thomas Jefferson High School 2018 Mentorship Program
Website: https://williamoconnell.me
Email: william@williamoconnell.me
Former Postdoctoral Research Scholars
Dr. Eléonore Paquier
B.S. in Geography, Aix-Marseille University (2007)
M.S. in Environmental Science (Geomorphology), Aix-Marseille University (2009)
PhD in Physical Geography, Aix-Marseille University (2014)
Doctoral Dissertation: Interactions between hydrodynamics, sedimentary processes and a receding Zostera noltei meadow in a fetch limited setting in Mediterranean France
Research interests: Interested in interactions between hydrodynamics, sedimentary processes and vegetation in estuarine, lagoonal and coastal areas. Working on the field monitoring of these processes on the project "Hurricane Storm Surge attenuation by Wetlands"
Link to personal research website
Former PhD Students
Daniel Habete
B.S. Civil Engineering, University of Maryland (2007)
M.S. Civil Engineering, University of Maryland (2011)
Ph.D. Civil Engineering, George Mason University (2017)
Research interests: Impacts of climate and anthropogenic induced non-stationary in watershed and stormwater systems response with a focus on hydrological and Hydraulic engineering design, and floodplain mapping
Juan Luis Garzon Hervas
B.S. Civil Engineering, University of Granada, Spain
M.S. Coastal and Ports Engineering, University of Cantabria, Spain
Research interests: Juan is a graduate research assitant working on both modeling physical processes in coastal areas and field experiments in the Chesapeake Bay. Specifically, he has a wide experience using the hydrodynamic model ADCIRC coupled with the wind wave model SWAN. His modeling work has been focused on hindcasting tropical and extratropical storms affecting the Bay, and currently he is colaborating to develop the water level forecast system at the Flood Hazard Research Lab. Regarding the field experiments, his dissertation will involve a wide set of equipment: AquaDopp, high and slow frequency sensors, DGPS and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in order to obtain a better understanding of how marshes areas and vegetation fields help to protect coastal areas from storm surge, wave action and currents. Juan proyect´s is funded by NSF Project: Hazards SEES Type 2, Modeling to Promote Regional Resilience to Repeated Heat Waves and Hurricanes.
Link to personal research website
Mike Wright
PhD Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (2014)
Thesis: Evaluation of heterogeneity statistics for hydrological regional frequency analysis
* Co-Advised with Dr. Mark Houck
Former Masters Students
Mariamawit Borga
B.S. Jackson State University (2014)
M.S. Civil and Environmental, George Mason Univeristy (Spring 2016)
Research area: Integration of scour models to hurricane storm surge damage analyses
* Co-Advised with Dr. Burak Tanyu
Ryan Cook
B.S. James Madison University (2012)
M.S. Civil and Environmental, George Mason Univeristy (2016)
Research area: Stormwater and flood monitoring on George Mason's campus
Mithun Deb
B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Bangladesh (2011)
M.S. in Civil Engineering, George Mason University (2015)
Research Interests: High Performance Computing, Storm surge modeling, Coastal circulation models (ADCIRC), Flood water management; Remote Sensing & GIS; River morphology
Current position: PhD student at the University of Delaware, Center for Applied Coastal Research. Advisor Dr. James Kirby
Morvarid Ganjalizadeh (Niloo)
M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (2016)
Research area: Hydrological and hyadraulic real time systems. Campus watershed hydrological instrumentation. The Mason Water Data Information System (MWDIS) data collection and maintenance.
* Co-Advised with Dr. Viviana Maggioni
Jana Haddad
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (2015)
M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (2016)
Research area: Hurricane storm surge modeling
Current position: PhD student at the University of North Carolina, Chapell Hill. Advisor Dr. Rick Luettich.
Former Undergraduate Students
Nadia Ahmadi
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy
Research area: Impacts of extreme weather events on the Mason Campus. Environmental and hydrological data real time telemetry implementation.
Meghan Andrews
Geography BA with a minor in GIS (Expected 2018)
Research Interests: Utilizing GIS to visualize spatial data effectively, creating an organized database for better illustration of Project data.
Tim Arvin
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (Spring 2015)
Research interests: Environmental monitoring of the Mason Watershed. Installation and maintenance of hydrological field equipment. Study of watershed response to extreme events on campus.
Lora Baungartner
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (Fall 2015)
Research area: Flood hazards modeling on our campus watershed and development of hydrologic and hydraulic modeling tutorials.
Dan Bentley
B.S. Civil, Environmental and Infrastructural Engineering, George Mason University (Spring 2018)
Research area: Thorough management and installation of sensing equipment in the field as well as data extraction and real time updates.
Alayna Bigalbal
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy
Research area: Undergraduate Research Experience on nature based defenses for hurricane storm surge
Paulo Cesar
B.S. Eletronic Engineering, Aeronautics Institute of Technology, Brazil
Summer 2015 Undergraduate Research Experience
Research area: Smart real time flood sensors development and implementation
Marcelo Cezarini
B.S. Civil Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (Visiting Student)
Brazil Scientific Mobility Program fully-funded scholarship recipient provided by CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education
Brazilian home institution: Federal University of Minas Gerais
Research area: Flood hazards modeling on our campus watershed.
Tirik Ford
BS Geography, George Mason University (Expected: May,2018)
Research Interests: Undergraduate Research Experience on nature based defenses for hurricane storm surge
Tanzin Jigme
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy
Research area: Undergraduate Research Experience on nature based defenses for hurricane storm surge
Lindsey Kellar
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (2016)
Research area: Coastal flooding: Application of a hydrodynamic model (Mike 21 by DHI) to evaluate storm surge dissipation in shallow waters by wetlands
Beverly Lanza
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Mason Univeristy
Research area: Undergraduate Research Experience on nature based defenses for hurricane storm surge
Augusto Lopes da Silva
B.S. Information Systems and Operations Management, George Mason Univeristy (Visiting Student)
Brazil Scientific Mobility Program fully-funded scholarship recipient provided by CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education
Brazilian home institution: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos
Research interests: The Mason Water Data Information System (MWDIS): Enabling data sharing and discovery at George Mason University
Amelia Martin
B.S. Civil Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (2014)
Undergraduate Research: Potential Impacts of Hurricane Flooding in the National Capital Region: What if Hurricane Sandy Made Landfall in the Chesapeake Bay?
Santosh Neupane
B.S. Civil Engineering, George Mason Univeristy
Research interests: Killer Cold Waves in Nepal: Possible Causes In Nepalgunj
Angelita Barbosa Nunes
B.S. Computer Science, George Mason Univeristy (Visiting Student)
Brazil Scientific Mobility Program fully-funded scholarship recipient provided by CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education
Brazilian home institution: Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana
Research interests: The Mason Water Data Information System (MWDIS): Enabling data sharing and discovery at George Mason University
Eric Ong
B.S. Geography, George Mason Univeristy. Minors Intelligence Analysis and GIS
Research area: GIS programming to support storm surge modeling. Python code development. Development of ArcGIS tools to integrate wave and hydrodynamic models with GIS.
Daniel Scolese
B.S. Civil Engineering, George Mason Univeristy (2013)
Undergraduate Research: The Effects of First Floor Elevation Distribution and Depth-Damage Curves on the HAZUS-MH Flood Model Damage Estimation for Coastal Floods
Former Computer Science Students
Kratika Jain
M.S. Information Systems, Computer Sciences Department, George Mason Univeristy
Research area: Database Administrator for the MWDIS. Her current project is related to research and analysis the technology and tools used in Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science (CUAHSI) water data center for real time data publication. Focusing on MWDIS data to comply with CAUHSI and using CUAHSI Hydrologic Information Systems (HIS) software and standards of data. Also analyzing the database - Observations Data Model (ODM) employed by CUAHSI which provides metadata of the data values and includes tables with information related to Sites, Variables, Sources, etc.
Former High School Students
Emma Glass
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
2016 Mason Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Research area: Quantification and Analysis of Coastal Flood Attenuation By The Chesapeake Bay Wetlands
Numan Khan
Thomas Jefferson High School (Expected: 2017)
2015 Mason Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Research area: Smart real time flood sensors development and implementation
Brian Ross
St. Albans School
2016 Mason Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Research area: Modeling the use and efficiency of low impact developments on the George Mason Campus.
Christine Wang
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
2016 Mentorship Program
Research area: Development of a real-time coastal flood hazards forecasting system for the Chesapeake Bay based on hydrodynamic and wave models (ADCIRC+SWAN) and the North Atlantic Mesoscale Model (NAM)
Christine Zhao
Thomas Jefferson High School (Expected: 2018)
2016 Mason Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Research area: Reading sensor data into ArcGIS and uploading flood indicator information onto ArcGIS servers, web, and mobile applications for easy user readability
