Day to day, I am building and reviewing models, presenting results, and writing the code that takes the
grunt work out of all of it.
That ranges from 2D hydraulic and watershed models for large flood-risk and restoration projects, to
meteorology and probabilistic hydrology for a national flood-data program, to technical reviews of other
firms' modeling, to small Python tools and desktop apps that automate the steps everyone hates doing by
hand. Before AECOM I spent four years as a civil engineering professor and several years before that as a
research assistant doing NSF and USGS funded hydrology work, which is where the modeling and the code both
started.
Federal client · 2025 to 2026 Glacial lake outburst flood study, Alaska
A technical study of recurring glacial lake outburst flooding from a side basin of a retreating glacier that threatens a valley community. A multi-agency design charrette weighed mitigation options (lake taps, control dams, levees, bypass channels, relocation, and hybrids) against environmental, cultural, and community impacts toward a preferred conceptual design. I co-led the H&H component, where a 2D surface-water model and 1D SWMM models were used to evaluate and inform the alternatives. I gave the technical presentations on the H&H approach and results during a three-day design charrette with the federal agency and local and state stakeholders, and served as the H&H lead for a two-day risk workshop on baseline, exceedance, and failure risks for the preferred alternative.
2D surface-water modelingSWMMrisk assessment
Federal client · 2025 to present Modernizing national flood-risk data
A program moving flood-risk assessment beyond single-event floodplain maps toward a probabilistic, risk-based framework that carries uncertainty, multiple flood probabilities, and consequence-based metrics. I was the meteorology lead for validation-basin modeling and built the frameworks and workflows to bring Stochastic Storm Transposition into probabilistic hydrologic modeling. A lot of the job was turning complex methods and outputs into something decision-makers can act on, aligned with the program standard operating procedure across regional and national scales.
Stochastic Storm Transpositionprobabilistic hydrologyHEC-HMS
Federal client · 2024 to 2025 Community flooding research for a land-management agency
I wrote the winning proposal and served as technical lead for the hydrologic-research task: compiling and analyzing hydrologic data to address frequent flooding in several communities, overseeing local data collection, developing flooding solutions with a partner consultant, and helping the project team and local representatives draft near-term and long-term action steps.
proposal writinghydrologic analysisstakeholder engagement
Federal client · 2023 to 2024 Floodplain map-revision technical reviews
As a technical reviewer for a federal floodplain-mapping program, I reviewed hydrologic and hydraulic modeling submitted for Conditional Letters of Map Revision and Letters of Map Revision, checking floodplain delineations, floodway encroachments, and base flood elevations, and giving detailed feedback and recommendations.
HEC-RASfloodplain mappingQA review
State client · 2025 River reintroduction and flood-risk reduction in a coastal swamp
A large restoration and flood-risk-reduction project that diverts up to 2,000 cfs of freshwater from a major river into a degrading swamp, with a 5.5-mile conveyance channel, multiple culvert and bridge crossings, and integration with an existing levee system. I was one of the principal hydraulic modelers. The design had to make sure the diversion and flood protection would not worsen local drainage or flood risk to neighbors, so we used advanced 2D hydraulic modeling to evaluate existing and proposed drainage, optimize channel and culvert designs, and assess how sea-level rise and storms change water-surface elevations across the area.
2D hydraulic modelingchannel and culvert designsea-level rise
State client · 2024 to 2026 Statewide watershed flood modeling
A coordinated, interagency effort to reduce flood risk and build resilience across a state. I worked as a hydrologic and hydraulic modeler and reviewer, running detailed flood simulations for areas across the state with HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS 2D, analyzing the outputs across flood scenarios, and compiling the results into reports and visualizations for flood-risk-management stakeholders.
HEC-HMSHEC-RAS 2Dreporting
State client · 2024 to 2026 Design-support technical reviews for a statewide flood program
As a technical reviewer for the program design-support track, I checked that consultant technical reports actually met community needs, such as channel improvements and detention-pond studies, and gave detailed feedback on both the modeling approach and the writing. I have reviewed more than 20 reports built with tools like SRH-2D, HEC-RAS (1D and 2D), and HEC-HMS.
SRH-2DHEC-RASHEC-HMSQA review
State client · 2025 Slope-classification automation for a transportation department
I led development of SlopeStake Analyzer, a Python tool that processes, filters, and analyzes slope-stake data from highway cross-section surveys statewide. It finds qualifying slope segments against the state criteria, cutting work that used to take days. It runs through more than 400 slope-stake files from hundreds of plan sets and over 72,000 slope-length pairs in seconds.
Pythondata processingautomation
State client · 2023 to 2024 Bridge and culvert replacement hydraulics for a transportation department
I ran the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for several culvert-replacement projects: delineating drainage basins, computing flows with the state design method, and summarizing the findings in hydraulic reports. I built HEC-RAS models from detailed surveys and LiDAR, representing existing and proposed structures so the new ones could pass the design flows and lower flood risk.
HEC-RASLiDARhydraulic reports
Regional client · 2024 Linking 2D hydraulic and urban-drainage models for a metro area
I streamlined the transfer of flow and stage data from HEC-RAS into InfoWorks ICM, a step that takes a long time by hand. I wrote a Python script that does it in seconds and wrapped it in a desktop app so non-programmers on the team could use it.
HEC-RASInfoWorks ICMPythondesktop app
AECOM initiative · 2023 to present Large language models in H&H modeling
I lead an effort to use large language models for the pre- and post-processing around H&H modeling, moving it from spreadsheets toward code, by generating Python scripts, apps, and tutorials from plain-language input from people who do not write code. That work has produced HydroImpact (post-processing dam-breach results from hydraulic models), the NOAA Atlas 14 Processor Toolbox (automated download and processing of gridded precipitation for HEC-RAS 2D models), and the SCS Curve Number Generator App (simplifying curve-number determination for a study area).
LLMsPythonHEC-RAS
AECOM initiative · 2024 to 2025 HEC-RAS input automation (ZeusHydrology)
As Digital Innovation Lead, I led ZeusHydrology Python Tools, an effort to streamline the hydrology side of HEC-RAS modeling: building, deploying, and tuning automation that cuts manual effort and improves accuracy, as part of a larger project to streamline the inputs into a 2D HEC-RAS model.
PythonHEC-RASautomation
NSF and USGS funded · at NDSU · 2015 to 2020 Spring floods in a northern river basin
Macro-scale hydrologic modeling to improve early-spring streamflow simulations affected by frozen ground and snowmelt, working across scales with models like HEC-HMS and SWAT. The end product was Macro-HyProS, a new hydrologic model built in FORTRAN and Python, calibrated and validated for the basin.
Macro-HyProSFORTRANPythonHEC-HMSSWAT
NSF and USGS funded · at NDSU · 2018 to 2020 Snowmelt simulation in a large river basin
Used downscaled satellite surface-temperature data to calibrate and validate a snowmelt model for snow accumulation and ablation, compared against NOAA SNOW-17 for accuracy and reliability.
snowmelt modelingsatellite data
NSF and USGS funded · at NDSU · 2016 Hydro-topographic analysis of a pothole-wetland region
Developed D-cubed (depression-dominated delineation), an algorithm that computes wetland volume and ponding area from DEMs, then ran ArcGIS analysis on several watersheds with clear gains over traditional methods like D8.
D-cubedArcGISDEM analysis
NSF and USGS funded · at NDSU · 2015 to 2019 Hydrologic field data collection
Sited and set up rainfall and snowfall gauging stations and collected rainfall, snowfall, soil moisture, and wetland-depth data in a research study area, then used Python to analyze and publish the datasets.
field instrumentationPythondata publishing
