Ecological, Water Resources, & Environmental Engineering Program (EWREEP)

Welcome! I am Dr. Omar I. Abdul-Aziz, a tenured Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at West Virginia University (WVU), Morgantown, USA. My research is foundational and interdisciplinary in nature, incorporating topics related to the coupled human-natural systems and sustainability sciences and engineering from at-site to regional to global scales. I collaborate with environmental engineers, hydrologists, climatologists, biogeochemists, biologists, ecologists, and socio-economic scientists. My lab emphasizes the hydrological, biogeochemical, ecological, and environmental (H-BEE) aspects of Civil/Water Resources Engineering based on core fundamentals. My team aims to develop sustainable engineering guidelines, designs, and practices by incorporating ecological and biological sciences into the traditional physical/chemical science based Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. Our goal is to provide foundational guidance through novel discoveries and user-friendly modeling tools, leading to eco-friendly designs of environmental and water resources infrastructure for achieving sustainability at variable time and space scales under changing climate, land use/cover, and sea level stress scenarios. Current research activities emphasize environmental, water, and infrastructure sustainability and resilient communities, focusing  on (I)  ecosystem greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes and carbon dynamics, (II) stream water quality and ecosystem health, and (III) freshwater flooding in complex urban, natural, and coastal environments. I received U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER AWARD in January 2015 (while at FIU-Florida International University) to investigate and robustly predict stream water quality and ecosystem health across variable time, space, and process scales. I joined WVU in August 2015. 

I am an Editor for 3 journals: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering (ASCE), Discover Water (Springer-Nature), and Sustainability. 

Dr. Omar I. Abdul-Aziz’s CV/RESUME.

Research Interests:

1. Data science & analytics of hydrological, biogeochemical, ecological, and environmental (H-BEE)

processes (e.g., GHG fluxes, water quantity & quality, ecosystem/public heath, infrastructure).

2. Scaling, similitude, and  organizing principles of H-BEE process dynamics, variables & indicators.

3. Climate, land use, and sea level change impacts on water resources, ecosystems & infrastructures.

4. Modeling of stormwater (freshwater) flooding in complex urban/natural & coastal environments.

5. Robust modeling & predictions of water quality & ecosystem health in streams/rivers & estuaries.

6. Robust modeling & predictions of GHG (e.g., CO2, CH4) fluxes & carbon storage in ecosystems (e.g., 

wetlands, forests, cropland, marine), gas fields, transportation, & other anthropogenic sectors.       

Education:

Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA. May 2008. GPA: 3.9/4.0

M.A.Sc., Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. October  2004. GPA: 4.0/4.0

B.Sc. Engg., Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), Dhaka.

April 2002. GPA: 3.8/4.0; Awarded with highest Honors (Summa Cum Laude equivalent).

Awards:

1. U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award 2015-21.

2. Top Scholar Award 2015, Florida International University (FIU), Miami, U.S.A.

3. Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship 2007-08, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, U.S.A.

Leadership Roles:

1. Chair, Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) Wetland Hydrology Technical Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2018 – 2023 (Member since 2014-).

2. Chair, EWRI Task Committee on Wetland GHG Fluxes and Carbon Sequestration, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2018 – 2023.

3. Chair, Deputy Chair, and Member, Water Quality Technical Committee, American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2022 – present (Member since 2017-).

4. Member, EWRI Watershed Council Leadership Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2018 – present. 

5. Member, EWRI Surface Water Hydrology Technical Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2018 – present. 

6. Member, EWRI Task Committee on Remote Sensing Application for TMDL Modeling, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2019 – present. 

7. Member, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering’s Award Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2020 – 2022.

Employments:

Professor (tenured, August 2024 – present), Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.

Associate Professor (tenured, August 2018 – July 2024), Wadsworth Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.

Assistant Professor (tenure track with due credit for previous years done at FIU, August 2015 –July 2018), Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.

Assistant Professor (tenure track, August 2011 -August 2015 ), Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.

Staff Scientist (January 2010 – August 2011), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), through ASRC Research & Technology Solutions (Rank: Research Scientist III), USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA.

Research Associate (July 2008 – Dec 2009), Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, and School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle.

Research and Teaching Assistant and Graduate Fellow (September 2004 – May 2008), Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering, and Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA.

Research and Teaching Assistant (January 2003 – August 2004), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA.

Research and Teaching Assistant (September 2002 – December 2002), Department of Civil Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA.

Teaching Interests:

Graduate

CE693I: Hydrologic Process Modeling & Predictions

CE693J: Hydro-Environmental Data Analytics

CE693K: Eco-Environmental Fluid Dynamics

CE 543: Water Quality Modeling and Analysis

CE593L/CWR 6625: Ecological Engineering

CE593M/CWR 5140C: Ecohydrology

CWR 5251: Environmental Hydraulics

Undergraduate

CE 321: Fluid Mechanics

CE 322: Hydrotechnical Engineering (Pipe & Open Channel Flows)

CE 423: Water System Design

CE 425: Engineering Hydrology

CE 427: Water Resources Engineering

CE 429: Ecological Engineering

CE 443. Environmental Science and Technology 

CE 447: Environmental Engineering Design

CWR 4620: Ecohydrological Engineering

CWR 4204: Hydraulic Engineering