CEES Alum Secures $30 Million Grant from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Dr. Yusuf Mehta earned his M.S. degree from OU CEES before earning his Ph.D. from Penn State. Today we celebrate his accomplishments as the founding director of the Center for Research and Education in Advanced Transportation Engineering (CREATES) at the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering. Recently, he secured a $30 million, five-year contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). This grant aims to support and advance research efforts in the Arctic region.

OU School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Reaches Research Pinnacle With 10 National Science Foundation CAREER Awards

Ten National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program, or CAREER Awards, in 18 years is a noteworthy achievement and recognition of the caliber of faculty serving the University of Oklahoma’s School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science.

The NSF CAREER Award is the Foundation's most prestigious award and supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. 

Randall Kolar, Ph.D., director of the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, received his NSF CAREER Award in 1996. 

“Not only do I recognize the amount of effort it takes to secure this honor from NSF, but I am also aware of the level of expertise and understanding required to conduct this level of research,” Kolar said. “The significance of earning 10 awards among a relatively small department — we are at our largest this year with 30 faculty — is an outstanding achievement by our school and one that warrants celebrating.” 

The list of NSF CAREER Award recipients starting with the most recent in 2023 and counting down through 1995 include:

10. Tiantian Yang, Ph.D. (2023)
Forecast-informed Flexible Reservoir System Modeling Enabled by Artificial Intelligence Algorithms Using Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Hydro-climatological Forecasts
Award Abstract # 2236926

9. P. Scott Harvey, Ph.D. (2020)
Mitigation of Seismic Risk to Critical Building Contents via Optimum Nonlinear 3D Isolation
Award Abstract # 1943917

8. Amy Cerato, Ph.D. (2008) Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers -PECASE
The Role of Specific Surface Area and Cation Exchange Capacity in Understanding and Predicting Expansive Soil Behavior
Award Abstract # 0746980

7. Elizabeth Butler, Ph.D. (2001)
Assessing the Potential for Natural and Enhanced Abiotic Transformation of Organic Pollutants in Natural Systems
Award Abstract # 0093332

6. Tohren Kibbey, Ph.D. (2001)
Surfactant Mixtures in Complex Environmental Systems
Award Abstract # 0092995

5. *Michael Mooney, Ph.D. (2000)
GeoWorks: A Multidisciplinary Design Studio Fostering Innovation and Invention in Geo-Construction through Research, Development and Education
Award Abstract # 9984378
*Mooney is no longer at the University of Oklahoma.

4. Mark Nanny, Ph.D. (1998)
Molecular-Level Characterization of Bonding and Bioavailability of Monoaromatic Pollutants Associated with Dissolved Organic Carbon
Award Abstract # 9732969

3. Keith Strevett, Ph.D. (1998)
Impact of Physiological State and Macro-Nutrient Ratio on Microbial Surface Thermodynamics
Award Abstract # 9733969

2. Randall Kolar, Ph.D. (1996)
Research Plan: Simulation of Surface Waterflow and Transport in a Parallel Computing Environment Teaching Plan: Engineering Futures and Engineering Education
Award Abstract # 9623592

1. K.K. Muraleetharan, Ph.D. (1995)
Static and Dynamic Behavior of Unsaturated Soils - Theory and Validation
Award Abstract # 9501718

OU Civil Engineers Collaborate on Lake Eufala Dam Replacement Bridge

From left: Civil engineering master's student
Omar Yadak with advisor and Associate Professor
Royce Floyd stand on a hill overlooking the dam.

University of Oklahoma School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science faculty member Royce Floyd and master's student Omar Yadak collaborated on a project to replace the Eufaula Dam Spillway bridge, completed March 31.

Supported in part by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Floyd and Yadak worked closely with the contractor and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the three-year project.

The Eufala dam is the first bridge in the state to use ultra-high performance concrete for connections of precast deck panels and for an overlay. UHPC is an innovative cementitious material with material properties and durability significantly exceeding that of conventional concrete. Floyd provided advice about the new material and the best methods to use during planning, pre-construction and application. He and Yadak measured compressive strength, removed cores from the bridge mockup and tested the UHPC.

Read more at the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website.

Royce Floyd, Ph.D. samples concrete
for compressive strength.

Master's student, Omar Yadak,
retrieves a core sample for testing.

University of Oklahoma International Water Prize Awarded to Dawn Martin-Hill

Research examines the sources of water contamination on both Six Nations and the Lubicon Cree in Alberta, Canada

View photos, program and presentation. NORMAN, Okla., Oct. 6, 2022 – Dawn Martin-Hill is a storyteller, because it is in stories where the truth lies. She tells one story of leading a water ceremony out on the west coast of the United States. One participant brought a pottery bowl that was engraved with “Water is Life” in many different languages. That bowl is a symbol of Martin-Hill's lifework – to honor and celebrate the sacramental gift that water is to all peoples using the stories and myths of her culture, the Haudenosaunee peoples of Canada’s Six Nations of the Grand River.  The two-row wampum belt is another symbol that expresses a journey of two cultures who travel down the river together, side by side, without trying to steer one another. Surrounded by the Great Lakes, Martin-Hill's tribal culture is defined and nourished by freshwater. She says that “our entire way of life is governed by water. It is spiritual, it is cultural, it is our identity. When you take that away from us, you are literally taking away our culture.”   Traditional indigenous knowledge is relayed through oral tradition, primarily from stories, arts, crafts and ceremonies, all done in the indigenous language. Under colonization, the residential schools outlawed the indigenous language, and yet indigenous knowledge about water and ecology is embedded in the native language. When the language is lost, so is the indigenous knowledge. Thus, Martin-Hill's integrated teams of elders, youth, biologists, scientists, and engineers present their work in bilingual format. The seventh biennial OU International Water Conference was held in a virtual format on Sept. 26-27 and featured 104 registrants presenting on and discussing such topics as engineering with nature, hydrology and water security, water for disadvantaged populations, wastewater epidemiology, water resources and climate change, and household water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH). An in-person prize banquet was held on Sept. 26 with 128 people in attendance at the beautiful First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City.  Martin-Hill, Ph.D. was honored at the banquet with the 2022 OU International Water Prize. Martin-Hill is an Indigenous (Haudenosaunee) woman, a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor at McMaster University. In addition, she is a mother who raised her girls in a home with periods of no running water. Using grants from the Global Water Futures, she and her students from McMaster University have developed indigenous water quality tools to monitor and assess the rich water life that surrounds them.  Her research examines the sources of water contamination on both Six Nations and the Lubicon Cree in Alberta. At the prize banquet, Martin-Hill spoke of her passionate commitment to study and improve the health impacts of water quality on people and animals that live in both communities. She presented her work in water as relationship, not utility alone. Martin-Hill is committed to understanding how water quality and security are linked to Indigenous community culture, livelihood and health, all important in pursuit of future water security. Water is life . . . to all peoples.

Study Finds U.S. Future Floods Becoming More Frequent, Wider Spread, Yet Less Seasonal

Summer 2022 has been an unprecedented one with five “1-in-1,000-year” floods experienced across the U.S.: St. Louis and Eastern Kentucky both in July, and Southeast Illinois, Death Valley and Dallas all in August.

“The intense rainfall combined with conducive land surface conditions, known as impervious surfaces, have caused flash floods and widespread inundation in cities,” said Yang Hong, Ph.D., professor of hydrology and remote sensing in the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science in the Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. “The continued warming climate and aging water infrastructure will exacerbate flood risks.”

Hong is leading a research team with Zhi Li, Ph.D., and Jonathan Gourley, Ph.D., research hydrometeorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory. Their latest study, published in Earth’s Future, has shown that future flooding in the U.S. is becoming more frequent, wider spread, yet less seasonal.

In a previous study, the team demonstrated flash flooding is becoming 7.9% more extreme, including higher peak flows and faster arrival times across the country.

In their new study “Spatiotemporal characteristics of US floods: Current status and forecast under a future warmer climate,” the researchers used computer modeling to simulate variability of rainfall and flooding over the contiguous U.S. Changes in rainfall and flood frequency, spatial scale, and seasonality are explored within major climate divisions.

“Our models demonstrate that weakening rainfall and flood seasonality could result in more random and less predictable extreme events throughout the year,” Gourley said. “Specific impacts demonstrated through our modeling flooding seasons will begin happening earlier in the West in snow-dominated regions, while flooding is likely to be delayed in the East. We also found correlation between extreme rainfall and flood onsets becoming stronger in the West, yet weaker in the East in the future.”

Overall, their study predicts an overall 101.7% in flood frequency and 44.9% increase in the extent of flooding, mainly attributed to more extreme rainfall and variability in the future.

“Predicting future floods is becoming more challenging because of changing land surface conditions,” Li said. “Our past experience and knowledge are likely not applicable in preparing future floods.”

Hong added, “there is a pressing need for dynamically evolving knowledge about floods to design flood infrastructures, especially given the fact that many flood infrastructures, like dams, levees, drainage systems, and waterways, were built 50 to 100 years ago. We need more resilient flood defense measures in cities to address flood risks.”

CEES Team's Paper Selected as Editor's Choice After Seven-Year Study on Interactions Between Bridges and Pavements

Congratulations to Dr. Muralee and team for the distinction of having their paper titled "Influence of Lateral Movements of Approach Embankments on Bridges: A Case Study" selected and placed into the Editor's Choice Collection by the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities page in the ASCE Library.

The paper is the result of a more than seven year study funded by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and involved field monitoring of the interactions between bridges and pavements.

View paper here: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/%28ASCE%29CF.1943-5509.0001742.

OU Environmental Engineering Students Recognized at ASRS Meeting

Two current members of the Center for Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds (CREW) have received top honors from the American Society of Reclamation Sciences (ASRS), an international society focusing on land reclamation and the protection and enhancement of soil and water resources.

OU doctoral student Nick Shepherd received first place in the ASRS Best Student Oral Presentation. A CREW member, Shepherd conducts research on watershed biogeochemistry and ecological engineering. His studies revolve around mine drainage at the Tar Creek Superfund Site ranging from the physical and chemical characterization of mine drainage to the biological impacts on receiving aquatic ecosystems.

OU doctoral student M’Kenzie Dorman was awarded second place in the ASRS Best Student Oral Presentation. Her research focuses on the passive treatment of acid mine drainage to create more sustainable treatment processes that limit the footprint and resources required to properly treat mine drainage. Her interests in the environmental field are concentrated on meeting the safety, cost and efficacy standards of both industries and people.

More than 200 attended the organization’s 39th annual meeting held June 12-16 in Duluth, Minnesota. Robert Nairn, David L. Boren Professor and Viersen Presidential Professor in the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, serves as CREW director. Ten of the 200 attendees were current or former students mentored by Nairn.

ASRS had not met since 2019 and additional awards related to CREW members were also announced in Duluth. They are:

• 2020 BS-level Memorial Scholarship: Kristen Soucheck (OU BS EnvE 2021)
• 2020 MS-level Memorial Scholarship: M’Kenzie Dorman (OU MS EnvE 2019)
• 2020 Distinction in Reclamation Award: BioMost Inc. for the Southeast Commerce Passive Treatment System
• 2021 BS-level Memorial Scholarship: Hannah Curtis (OU BS EnvE 2021)
• 2021 PhD-level Memorial Scholarship: Brandon Holzbauer-Schweitzer (OU PhD ES 2021)
• 2021 Reclamation Researcher of the Year Award: Bill Strosnider (OU PhD EnvE 2010)

“I am incredibly proud of all my students and especially gratified that the hard work of Nick and M’Kenzie were recognized by a professional organization like ASRS,” Nairn said.