Faculty
Nina Stark
Associate Professor
Nina Stark is the faculty lead of the coastal & marine geotechnics research group. Nina has received her MS (Diploma) in Geophysics in 2007 from the Westphalian Wilhelms University Muenster, Germany, and her PhD in Marine Geotechnics in 2011 from the University of Bremen, Germany. She worked as a postdoc at the University of Bremen (2011-2012) and at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada (2012-2013). She was an assistant professor from 2013-2019 and an associate professor from 2019-2023 in the geotechnical engineering program at Virginia Tech. She joined the University of Florida as an associate professor in 2023. Nina has received the NSF CAREER award in 2018, the ONR Young Investigator Award in 2018, and was leading the SERDP Project of the Year in 2022.
Students
Saurav Shrestha
PhD Student
I am Saurav Shrestha. I completed my Bachelor’s(2015) and Master’s degree (2020) in Geotechnical Engineering from Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. I completed my first two years of Ph.D. in Virginia Tech and I am continuing it as a third year student at the University of Florida in the Geosystems Department. I am working in a research project to perform probabilistic analysis of environmental effects on sensors placed close to the seabed and it’s effects on the sensor network performance. The environmental effects include lateral displacement due to hydrodynamic actions, embedment of sensors due to self weight and impact, scour burial, liquefaction effects, etc. I try to explore the complex interactions between the coastal environment and sensor, trying to enhance our understanding of how hydrodynamic and geotechnical factors influence sensor burials and subsequent performance.
Stephen Adusei
PhD Student
Stephen Adusei is pursuing a Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Florida. His research interest is at the intersection of Geospatial Technology and Geotechnical Engineering. He is currently working on identifying coastal features from satellite imagery and assessing how they impact trafficability. Stephen is from Nkawkaw in the Eastern part of Ghana and earned his BSc in Geomatic Engineering from the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in 2021.
Fred Falcone
PhD Student at Virginia Tech
Freddie is a PhD student at Virginia Tech, working on trafficability of mud and mixed sediment flats using satellite-based remote sensing. Freddie received his BS degree in Civil Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts in 2014, and his MS degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2015. After graduating with his MS degree, Freddie spent 6 years working as a geotechnical engineer for Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers in Washington, DC. He worked on a variety of field and office projects ranging from geotechnical investigations to deep foundation design and inspection. Outside of engineering, Freddie enjoys hiking and traveling with his wife and two dogs.
Md Rejwanur Rahman
PhD Student at Virgina Tech
Md Rejwanur “Rahi” Rahman is a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, specializing in Probabilistic Sediment Behavior Classification through Geotechnical and Geophysical methods. Originally from a small town of Bangladesh, he earned his BS degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2019 and went on to complete his MS at the University of Kansas in 2020. Beyond academia, he enjoys activities such as driving, watching documentaries, sports, sitcoms, and crime movies. With a passion for blending geotechnical expertise and machine learning techniques, Rahi is dedicated to make significant contributions to the realm of Marine Geotechnics.
Jonathan Moore
MS student at Virginia Tech
I’m a Master’s student studying coastal and marine geotechnics. My research focus is the overlap of computational modelling and field work.I want to better understand sediment-fluid interaction in coastal and riverine environments, so that the impacts of climate change and the evolution of coastlines can be better understood and modelled. Currently, I’m modelling the impact of a Free Fall Penetrometer (FFP) into non-cohesive sediment using a strain rate dependent constitutive model. In the future, I want to work on understanding fluid-cohesive sediment interaction through field, lab, and numerical analysis.
Giacomo Valois Santos
undergraduate researcher
My name is Giacomo Valois Santos, I am from Bogota, Colombia. Just before coming here, I was studying Veterinary Medicine at the University of Applied and Environmental Sciences, however I always wanted to study at the best schools in the world and that is the reason I came here. Once here, I started working on restaurants, warehouses, hotels, until finally had the chance to study at Miami Dade College where I received my AA degree. The next step was transferring to UF, where I have had the opportunity to work in the Geomatics department, in a summer research in sustainable concrete for the Civil Engineering department, and currently working with Doctor Stark in her current research for the Coastal and Marine Geotechnics, all while completing my Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, which I expect to receive on May 2024.
Hailey Paek
undergraduate researcher
Hailey Paek is an undergraduate student at the University of Florida majoring in Civil Engineering. Originally from Orlando, she is entering her third year into getting her BS degree from the University of Florida with the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. Outside of her academic pursuits, she finds joy in various activities like cooking, indulging in sitcoms and movies, and solving puzzles. She yearns to merge her programming expertise with geotechnical methods in order to make substantial contributions to the field of Coastal and Marine Geotechnics.