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 hydrology and environmental engineering, and I teach courses in fluid mechanics, water resources engineering, hydrology, environmental engineering, sustainability, and environmental studies. 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 impacts of dam removal on stream channel dynamics. In addition, I have been passionate about raptors for a long time, and I am involved in citizen science and collaborative 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, my CV can be found here.

As a strong believer in doing rather than sitting on the side complaining, I am often involved in local projects with students and other faculty that don’t do much for my professional advancement but are meaningful to me in other ways. These all fall under the broad heading of “campus sustainability”…for example, establishing the Lafayette College garden (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/pollinator garden at Fisher Quad in 2017; working on retrofits to reduce bird collisions with windows on campus-we published some papers on this one; and advocating for removal of Lafayette’s dam on Bushkill Creek near 3rd Street, which finally happened in summer 2023.

My hobbies include nature photography, gardening (both veggies and native wildflowers), foraging, and not-so-extreme outdoor adventures – kayaking, hiking, travel to wild places, etc. I like good books and maps too.

In a happy place with my people a few years back.