Former Members

Jesus Loredo

He is a Civil Engineer specialized in hydraulics by profession graduated of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico in 2016. He has worked professionally in construction since 2015, working in different offices by the Mexican government. Jesus Loredo has participated in different activities related to research. In 2014 he participated in a seismic vulnerability project of urban building. In 2015, he participated in a project to evaluate oil platforms in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Since 2017, he began to study the Master's Degree in Civil Engineering, deepening in the theme of the Water Footprint. Actually he collaborate with Dr. Sam Sandoval Solis in the University of California, Davis. Email: jloredo@ucdavis.edu

Erfan Goharian

Erfan joined the Water Management Research Group as a postdoctoral researcher in January 2016. His research interests include integrated water resources modeling and management, system analysis, and hydroinformatics. He has additional expertise related to hydrologic modeling, climate change impact assessment on water resources, and stormwater management. He is developing a framework to include interactions among the major sectors of the water system in California to achieve greater water security and sustainability under drought and climate change condition as a part of UC WATER Security and Sustainability Research Initiative. Erfan holds a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering - Water Resources Management from the University of Utah. Email: egoharian@ucdavis.edu

Belize A. Lane

Belize's research is at the intersection of hydrology, river science, and water resources management, with an emphasis on improving river management for both human and environmental objectives. She is interested in linking hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, and river ecology to improve basic scientific understanding of river systems. Belize received her B.S. in Ecology with a minor in Mathematics from the University of California San Diego and M.S. in Water Resources Management from the University of California Davis. Her Ph.D. is in Hydrologic Sciences from UC Davis working with Dr. Samuel Sandoval, Dr. Greg Pasternack, and Dr. Helen Dahlke. Email: baalane@ucdavis.edu

Abbas Afshar, Ph.D.

Visitor Scholar (2012-2013)
Professor at Iran University of Science and Technology(IUST)
School of Civil Engineering, Tehran, Iran
Email: josrodriguezarellano@ucdavis.edu

Sooyeon Yi

Sooyeon is pursuing a Master of Sciences degree in Hydrologic Science from the University of California Davis. Her research interest include hydrology, water resources planning and management, focusing on surface water hydrology, reservoir operations, and balanced human and environmental water management. She is using a coupled Hydrologic and water planning platform [Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP)] to simulate the water availability and water supply in the Apurimac River Basin, in Peru. She has been evaluating average conditions (synthetic) and historic climate to determine the sensitivity of the model to the various parameters involved. Once the model is calibrated, it will be used to test current and future water demands that include a reservoir. The outcome of the study will provide guidance for stakeholders (Peru and Arequipa Regional Government) to decide whether to or not to build reservoir and their impacts to anthropogenic and environmental water requirements. Email: scyi@ucdavis.edu

Pablo Tomas Silva Jordan

Pablo is pursuing a Master's degree in Hydrologic Sciences at University of California, Davis. His interest focuses on water resources management, his research combine water supply, distribution and management at basin and sub-basin scales. He comes from Chile motivated by the similarities that California has with the central region of Chile in terms of geography, climate, land use, economic activities; and the strong influence that UC Davis has on the agricultural sector in Chile. He obtained a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. After that, he worked on an irrigation consultant company in Chile for four years. He is also an outdoor sport fan, practicing mountain bike, hiking and mountain climbing. Email: ptsilva@ucdavis.edu

Bruno R. Britos

Bruno is pursuing a Master’s degree in Hydrological Sciences with a focus on Water Resources Management at University of California, Davis. He earned a degree in Civil Engineering with a Specialization in Water Resources at National University of San Juan and an MBA at Catholic University of Cuyo, both in Argentina. Due to the similarities between San Juan and California in terms of weather conditions, use of land and scarcity of the water resources, he decided to come to UC Davis seeking the latest science and state-of- the-art techniques in hydrological sciences. His aim is to help water managers, users and stakeholders to make better decisions regarding the allocation, management and best uses of such a vital resource as water is for life. He expects to achieve this challenge by doing research and applying his vast professional background through a holistic approach. In his free time he enjoys listening to Rock & Roll music and loves playing the drum. Email: brbritos@ucdavis.edu

Maritza Flores Marquez

Maritza Flores Marquez is pursuing a Master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with an emphasis in Water Resources Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Her research interests focus on groundwater, water resources management, and water quality. Maritza obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering with a minor in Public Health from the University of California, Merced. Motivated by California’s pressing water issues, specifically within the Central Valley, she strives to broaden her skills and knowledge with regards to water management.  Email: mfloresmarquez@ucdavis.edu

Kelly Kane

Kelly is working towards a Master of Science in Ecology with an emphasis in restoration. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obipso in Environmental Management and Protection and has since worked at a number of agencies and private companies, primarily conducting salmonid population monitoring as well as biological and compliance monitoring for construction projects. Kelly’s interests in water resource assessment related to environmental flows motivated her to return to school for graduate studies. Her thesis work involves improving time step feedback between the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) modeling system and a fish habitat suitability model that focuses on spring-run Chinook salmon in Butte Creek, CA. Email:  klkane@ucdavis.edu

Jenna Marie Rodriguez

Jenna is currently a tenured National Science Foundation (NSF) fellow under the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and works at the Center for Spatial Technologies and Remote Sensing (CSTARS) at UC Davis. She is pursuing a PhD in Hydrologic Sciences at UC Davis, and is conducting analysis on remotely sensed methods of evapotranspiration (ET) and assessing agricultural water consumption among arid and semi-arid regions. Remotely sensed methods of water consumption include spectral indices and energy balance algorithms. Specifically, this project includes collaborators from University de Concepcion, Chile, University of Arizona and CSIRO - Caberra to include dryland regions of United States, Chile, Southern Australia and Spain. Jenna currently holds a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from UCLA, and is completing her M.S. in Hydrologic Sciences from UC Davis. She was recently awarded the first Kenneth K. Tanji for distinguished public service and the W.D. Farr Fellowship Award from the National Cattleman's Foundation for leadership and dedication to agricultural water management. Email: jmmartin@ucdavis.edu

Mohammad Azizipour

Mohammad is pursuing a Ph.D. in Water Resources from Iran University of Science and Technology. His Research interests include system analysis in water resources planning and management, water quality and numerical modeling for simulation of surface water and groundwater. He is developing an optimization approach for reliability based multi reservoir operation.  Email:  mazizipour@ucdavis.edu

Miriam Julieta Salamanca Sanchez

Miriam is pursuing a Ph.D. in Development and Environment from the Autonomous University of Baja California(UABC) in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Her research interest focus on water resources management. She earned a Bachelor´s degree in Hydrobiology from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) in Mexico City and a Master´s degree in Arid Zones Management from the Autonomous Baja California University. She is working on an integrated water resources management simulation model for the Northern Region of Baja California State. She hopes someday that the water in drought zones will be valuated as it deserves it.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Arellano

Jose Luis is pursuing a Master’s degree in Hydrologic Sciences at University of California, Davis. His interests focus on the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater. Originally from Mexico, Jose Luis obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in his home country. Motivated by the great water use challenges California faces, he decided to further his education with a focus on water resources management. Email: josrodriguezarellano@ucdavis.edu

Erik Porse

Erik Porse works at the interdisciplinary boundaries of water resources engineering, resource sustainability, energy policy, and urban analysis. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering for water resources at the University of California, Davis, conducting analysis and modeling for integrated management of engineering and ecological systems related to urban water. He has worked in numerous roles throughout the world, including faculty leader of the Earlham College East Africa program in Tanzania, systems engineer for the U.N. in Austria, technology and international affairs analyst for the U.S. government, and adjunct professor in Politics and Government at George Mason University. He holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Science and Technology Policy from George Mason University, and a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and Music from the University of Hartford. Read more about his interest at Erik's webpage. Email: eporse@ucdavis.edu

Omar Tinoco

I am currently a 5th year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning with an Emphasis in Water Management. I am currently interning with Lisa K. Moretti in stormwater management assessing the condition of stormwater outfalls and potential for non-stormwater discharge to meet requirements conditions for UC Davis’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Phase II permit. Furthermore, e valuate best management practices and sediment erosion along the UC Davis Arboretum to provide recommendations for maintenance.In addition, I am volunteering for the California Department of Water Resources assisting with public affairs office, in its water education division. My interests are water quality, conservation and the management of groundwater in the California Central Valley. Through experience and research I plan to figure out the best water quality and supply practices depending on the region. Email: acmtinoco@ucdavis.edu

Romain Maendly

Romain Maendly interest lays in the evaluation of water systems at the watershed, district, state and national level utilizing Life Cycle Analysis Techniques. Romain is pursuing a Master’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering within the specialization of water resources at the University of California, Davis. While being a full time student, Romain is also a full time Engineer for the California Department of Water Resources. Originally, Romain originated from Switzerland where he earned a technical certificate in Land Surveying, while working for an Engineering Consultant Company. Romain moved to the United States and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Romain’s goal is to pursue advanced education in integrated water management resources and use his knowledge to develop applicable tools for public services purposes. Email: romain.maendly@gmail.com

Mohammad H. Golmohammadi

Mohammad is a visiting graduate student at UC Davis and PhD candidate in water resources engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran. Now, he’s working on his dissertation which is about scenario analyses for Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management in the Zayandehrud basin, Iran. He has such researches in the fields of intelligent systems such as Fuzzy Set and Systems, Artificial Neural Networks and Adaptive Neuro based Fuzzy Inference System, time series modelling and dynamic programming. His interests include conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater, hydrologic modelling, optimization and conflict solution. In 2013, Mohammad was honoured to outstanding student of Iran, awarded by Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and outstanding researcher of Isfahan province awarded by Isfahan Governor-General. Email: hossein.g2010@gmail.com

Luz Graciela Cruz

Luz Graciela Cruz, Humphrey Fellow for 2013 – 2014 sponsored by the Fulbright Commission and the United States Department of State.  She is biologist from Panama and spend two months of professional development in UC Davis. She is a coordinator of Resources and Development Projects at theNational Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation in Panama.  She study the water and climate change for public policy and scientific research in focus on Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation. Email: lgcruz@ucdavis.edu

April Jean Tafoya

April Jean was a graduate student in the hydrological science program and a CCWAS IGERT student who studied water resource management in arid land regions and climate change adaptation. After two quarter she decided to follow a more practical training in water resources as a practitioner in New Mexico rather than academia. This is a brief bio of her undergrad and master studies: April undergraduate work focused on Environmental Science, studying entomology and how phylogenetic analysis of subterranean species can be incorporated into groundwater modeling, as well as several water quality related studies. April Jean received her MS in Earth and Planetary Science from the University of New Mexico where she was an NSF LSAMPBD fellow. Her research examined paleoclimate and paleohydrology records in travertine systems in arid regions including the southwestern United States, Australia and Egypt. Email: apriljtafoya@gmail.com

Vicki Lin

Vicki graduated in 2014 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Management with an emphasis in Watershed Science. Since then, Vicki has worked at the State Water Resources Control Board in the Division of Financial Assistance, Environmental Review Unit and currently at the Division of Drinking Water, Field Operations Branch.  She works with small water systems throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara County to help them maintain compliance with California’s drinking water standards. This involves reviewing monthly water quality data and conducting sanitary surveys/inspections of water systems to provide technical recommendations and assistance. Vicki’s current role as an Environmental Scientist at the Division of Drinking Water allows her to connect her interests of environmental management with public health, all while developing quality relationships with the public. Email: vlin@ucdavis.edu

Xueshan Ai

Visitor Scholar (2012-2013).
Professor at Wuhan University, School of Water Resources and Hydropower
Hubei, China.
Email: xsai@whu.edu.cn

 Maria Milanes Murcia

 Post-doctoral scholar (Jul/2013-Dec/2013)researching on the disciplines of water resources planning, management and international water law, focusing on conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater and water law. 

Email: milanesmurcia@ucdavis.edu

Samuel Schoevaars

Sam is a fifth-year undergraduate student pursuing his B.S. in Environmental Science and Management with an emphasis in Watershed Science. He is the lead student doing the analysis of water related economic activities (such as agriculture, recreation, tourism and flood control) in the Big Bend region of the Rio Grande/Bravo basin. His interests include groundwater hydrology, watershed management, water law, and environmental consulting. Email: sjschoevaars@ucdavis.edu

Kaylee Williams

 Alumni of the hydrology major with an emphasis of coursework in Marine Geoscience and Wetlands. Kaylee collaborated in the construction of the geodatabase for the Application Efficianecy for Irrigation Systems in California Study. At this moment, she is exploring another important and challenging field: music. She and her brother (Ryan) created a indie-folk duo, called The Native Sibling. Check their Facebook page, great band! Email: kewilliams@ucdavis.edu