The Team

Kathleen (Kate) Smits

Kathleen (Kate) Smits’ research group focuses on advancing the knowledge of shallow subsurface multiphase processes affected by heat and mass flux dynamics at the land/atmospheric interfaces at a wide range of physical scales. The basic aim of Kate’s research is to combine theoretical, numerical, and experimental approaches to address hydrological processes occurring near the earth’s surface as influenced by natural boundary conditions (e.g. humidity, temperature, radiation, wind, vegetation). The motivation of her research is to provide answers to questions of importance to many current and emerging water resources, hydrology, environmental and climate change-related problems.

Younki Cho

Younki Cho is a postdoctoral researcher in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. His research focuses on multiphase flow in porous media. The goal of his research is to elucidate the fundamental flow and transport behavior of subsurface fluids by theory, simulation, and experiments.

Michelle Schwartz

Michelle Schwartz is a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 2017 and her Master’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 2018. Michelle’s previous research covered numerous topics including the effects of temperature on soil moisture probes, middle school students’ perceptions on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and natural gas leak detection methods. Her current research is on community-led environmental initiatives in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) communities and community knowledge-based environmental site assessments.

Shanru Tien

Shanru Tian is a PhD student in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. His current research is to quantify methane emission from NG pipelines and understand the potential soil atmosphere processes affecting methane’s transport in the soil and exchange with the atmosphere by combining the experiments with coupled modeling techniques. He has multiple discipline education experience including maritime administration (technology) and atmosphere sciences, and two years’ entrepreneurial experience in developing weather routing systems in Beijing Zhongguancun Fengtai Science Park. Before he came to Texas, he was a PhD student in climatology at the University of Delaware, studying North American Monsoon. His long-term research focus is on climate and energy. He likes Taiji, Marathon, and Yacht.

Navodi Jayarathne

Navodi Jayarathne J R R is a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering (Honours) from the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka (2017) and Master’s (Master of Philosophy) degree from the University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka (2020) with an emphasis on soil physics and geo-environmental engineering. Her early research career was focused on masonry mortar and Sri Lankan peat. Navodi got her path cleared to research soil physics-based gas migrations best suiting her interest in soils during her Peradeniya period. Her current research works are focused on gas diffusivity of different soils including Urban soils, Agricultural soils, Arctic soils (Permafrost layer), and Manufactured aggregated porous media with implications on infrastructure safety, greenhouse gas emissions, and terrestrial & outer space crop cultivation under different collaborations.

Nathaniel Steadman

Nathaniel Steadman is an M.S. student at the University of Texas at Arlington studying Environmental Engineering. He worked previously as an undergraduate research assistant on communicating scientific knowledge to developing communities, underground natural gas migration, and middle school students’ perceptions of STEM with the emphasis on promoting STEM for underrepresented students. He graduated from UTA in 2020 with his B.S. in Civil Engineering and obtained his EIT certification in 2021. His current research is focused on the application of sustainable remediation metrics to developing countries.

Conor Cunningham

Conor Cunningham is a Master’s student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Conor graduated from the University of Dayton in May 2021 with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Aerospace Engineering. His research focuses on monitoring and modeling leak behavior for underground natural gas pipelines.

Past and Present Undergraduate Students

  • Ashley Nguyenminh, Civil Engineeing, 2021
  • Anson Belcher, Civil Engineirng, 2021
  • Hilton Duong, Civil Engineering, 2020
  • Kassandra Gamez, Civil Engineering, 2020-2021 
  • Balaram Luitel, Civil Engineering, 2020 – 2021 
  • Nathaniel Steadman, Civil Engineering, 2018 – 2020 
  • Nicole Ndegwa, Civil Engineering, 2018 – 2020 
  • Parth Thapa, Civil Engineering, 2019 – 2020

If interested in participating as an undergraduate student, email kathleen.smits@uta.edu for information on undergraduate funding.