Research

The following research centers are affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Mines.

Center for Environmental Risk Assessment

The Center for Environmental Risk Assessment (CERA) aims to promote and enhance environmental risk assessment research and educational activities at Mines. By bringing diverse interdisciplinary expertise to expand fundamental knowledge related to any aspect of environmental risk assessment, the Center facilitates the development of significantly improved, scientifically based approaches for estimating human and ecological risks associated with exposures to anthropogenic and natural environmental chemicals and processes.

For more information, please contact Dr. Chris Higgins.

Colorado Center for a Sustainable WE²ST:

The Colorado Center for a Sustainable WE²ST: Water-Energy Education, Science, and Technology (WE2ST) was created with a generous donation from Conoco-Phillips to promote the joint sustainability of unconventional energy production and water resources through education of energy-water literate graduate and undergraduate students, and by conducting world-class research on both community acceptance of unconventional resource development, and water resources related to unconventional energy production. Today, research in WE²ST is broadened to include direct potable reuse of impaired/reclaimed water, high-recovery desalination of hypersaline brines, resource recovery from waste streams, and separation and destruction of emerging contaminants, and especially per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

For more information, please contact Dr. Tzahi Cath.

Center for Underground Construction and Tunneling

The Center for Underground Construction and Tunneling (UC&T) is a collaborative interdisciplinary group of research faculty and students from Civil and Environmental Engineering, Geology and Geological Engineering, and Mining Engineering with additional involvement from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Geophysics, Computer Science and Economics. The Center is actively engaged in cutting edge research with both private entities and government organizations. This research includes both applied and theoretical topics with the aim of advancing the knowledge and state of the art practice in underground construction and tunneling. Some of the key research areas currently underway include soil conditioning, tunnel boring machine (TBM) look ahead techniques, cross passage design and construction, TBM construction process, analysis of tunnel-induced ground deformation, and data-driven modeling techniques for TBM performance and ground deformation prediction.

For more information, please contact Dr. Mike Mooney

The following research projects are affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Mines.

Advancing Large Lake Representation in Operational Weather Forecasting: Integrating Novel Winter Observations and Satellite Altimetry

Earth’s large lakes play a critical role in shaping regional weather and climate through air-lake interactions that drive heat and moisture fluxes. However, their representation in operational Numerical Weather Prediction systems remains limited, especially during winter when observations are sparse and models rely on ocean-based parameterizations. This research aims to improve coupled modeling of atmosphere–lake–ice processes, with the goal of enhancing short-range weather and water forecasts.

For more information, please contact Dr. Eric Anderson.

Enhancing the Capabilities of the Unified Forecast System (UFS) Coastal Application

This study expands the Unified Forecast System (UFS) coastal application by incorporating key forcing variables-such as air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and river discharge- to better capture complex oceanic and coastal processes. Coupled UFS approaches provide more accurate forecasts that existing model configurations, especially during extreme weather events. This project reveals a unified forecasting (coupled) approach as a reliable tool for coastal prediction, with future work aimed at further improving its coupling capabilities and broadening its application to diverse coastal regions.

For more information, please contact Dr. Eric Anderson.

Finite Element and Risk Assessment in Geotechnical Engineering

Risk assessment in geotechnical engineering is a rapidly growing area of activity in both practice and academe. Computational tools are now available to explicitly model the highly variable nature of engineering materials such as soil and rock. These techniques, which often involve the finite element method, lead to an assessment of the margin of safety of important geotechnical engineering systems such as seepage, slopes, foundations and retaining structures in terms of the probability of design failure rather than the traditional Factor of Safety. Projects are available to further develop some of these tools such as the Random Finite Element Method (RFEM) to make them more accurate and efficient, and to analyze new problems of practical engineering value.

For more information, please contact Dr. D.V. Griffiths.

ICE Thickness in Earth’s Largest Lakes (ICETELL): Using satellite laser altimeter (NASA ICESat-2) to measure lake ice thickness

Lake ice is critical to weather forecasting, recreational activities, and commercial navigation. However, there is no routine or reliable measure of global lake ice thickness, particularly in Earth’s largest lakes. This project integrates state-of-the-art satellite measurements (LiDAR) and water forecast models to address this need for better ice information.

For more information, contact Dr. Eric Anderson.

PFAS@Mines:

PFAS@Mines is at the forefront of charactering the environmental behavior of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), studying human exposure, and developing treatment technologies for PFAS-impacted soils and drinking water. Working at the molecular scale to the aquifer scale, our team of scientists and engineers are advancing remediation and treatment strategies for difficult-to-treat matrices, evaluating the fate and transport of PFAS at foam-impacted sites, investigating PFAS interactions with biological systems, and modelling molecular-scale PFAS behavior. 

For more information, please view the website PFAS@Mines.

The Tunstall Materials Research Group

This group takes a materials science approach to understanding and optimizing concrete performance through the study of air entrainment, surfactant behavior, and biochar modification. Dr. Lori Tunstall’s group investigates how surfactant adsorption at solid–liquid and air–water interfaces influences workability, stability, and pore structure in cementitious systems. By coupling advanced characterization methods with fundamental surface chemistry, her team seeks to unravel how molecular-scale interactions translate into macroscale properties such as durability and strength. This framework also extends to emerging materials like biochar, where surface functionality and particle morphology can be engineered to improve compatibility with chemical admixtures and control air-void systems. Together, these efforts aim to build the scientific foundation for next-generation, carbon-negative concretes that combine performance, resilience, and sustainability

For more information, please contact Dr. Lori Tunstall.