I am a native of central Appalachia, and live in Riegelsville PA near the Delaware River about 10 miles south of campus (see red dots above – and yes, I do like old topo maps). My areas of expertise are in the interdisciplinary fields of hydrology and environmental systems engineering, and I teach courses in fluid mechanics, water resources engineering, hydrology, environmental systems engineering, sustainability, and design. My research in hydrology and hydraulics has covered a variety of topics, but generally involves quantifying the effects of urbanization on streamflow at the watershed scale and lately, studying the impacts of dam removal on stream channel dynamics. In addition, I have been passionate about raptors (not those fossil creatures, actual living dinosaurs!) for a long time, and I am involved in citizen science and collaborative interdisciplinary research on movement ecology and the impacts of wind energy on Golden Eagles and other raptors. My specialty is mathematical modeling of terrain updrafts and raptor migration pathways, an application of my background in fluid mechanics. For more info, a short version of my CV can be found here.

As a believer in creating change, over my 20+ years at Laf I have led a variety of local projects with students and other faculty that don’t do much for my professional advancement but are meaningful to me in other ways. Many of these fall under the broad heading of “campus sustainability”…for example, establishing the Lafayette College farm (now dubbed “LaFarm“) in 2009; designing and monitoring a constructed wetland at Sullivan Park near campus; design and installation of a solar-powered irrigation system and wash station at LaFarm; installing a bioretention area at Fisher Quad, and pollinator gardens outside Acopian Engineering Center; working on retrofits to reduce bird collisions with windows on campus (we published some papers on this one); and advocating for many years for removal of Lafayette’s mill dam on Bushkill Creek, which finally happened in summer 2023 and is now part of my research program. I am the co-advisor for our student chapter of EWB, and recently I began working with an NGO INMAR on their sustainable island project in Guaruja, Brazil.

My hobbies include nature photography, gardening (both veggies and native plants), foraging for wild mushrooms, and not-so-extreme outdoor adventures – kayaking, hiking, travel to wild places, etc.

In a happy place with my two wonderful boys a few years back.