Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2019-20 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

Overview

The mission of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley is to serve as the world's academic leader in civil and environmental engineering, defining the evolving domains of the field through teaching and scholarly research. The department educates undergraduate and graduate students to be knowledgeable, forward-thinking, and ethical professionals so that they may pursue careers characterized by leadership and innovation. The faculty values professional and public service through research, and seeks scientific and technological advances that address critical societal needs.

Libraries

The Kresge Engineering Library, located in the nearby Stephen D. Bechtel Engineering Center, contains over more than 175,000 volumes, more than 2,000 journals and periodicals, and 680,000 technical reports.

The Water Resources Center Archives, located at UC Riverside, specializes in material related to hydraulics, hydrology, and coastal engineering, with 100,000 titles in water resources and over 15,000 reports and papers on ocean engineering and oceanography.

The Institute of Transportation Studies Harmer E. Davis Library contains one of the largest multimodal, interdisciplinary transportation reference and research collections in the world. The library holds over 125,000 volumes and receives more than 2,500 serials. The library is also a depository for government transportation publications.

The Earthquake Engineering Research Center (EERC) Library is an affiliated library of UC Berkeley, specializing in structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, engineering dynamics, engineering seismology, and earthquake public policy. It is located at the Richmond Field Station, five miles from the main Berkeley campus and is accessible by a Berkeley-RFS shuttle.

Research Laboratories

Located on the second floor of Davis Hall within the UC Berkeley campus, the Structural and Materials Laboratory houses equipment for studying the behavior of structural elements and systems on both scale models and prototypes. The laboratory is based upon the base-isolated strong floor, to which the reaction frames, actuators, and specimens are securely fastened during the tests. Testing facilities range from miniaturized precision equipment to a four-million-pound capacity testing machine.

The Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, located in O’Brien Hall, is equipped for experimental work in general fluid mechanics, granular flow, water-sediment interactions, hydraulic structures, wave hydrodynamics, and sediment transport and supports field-based studies of environmental hydrodynamics. Hydrology laboratories in Davis Hall provide equipment and instrumentation supporting terrestrial, ecological and in-channel hydrology, and field deployment staging areas. Several large-scale experimental facilities are available at the Richmond Field Station, including a wave flume, a tow tank and a large wave basin. Computational facilities are available through the Berkeley Research Computing program.

Environmental Quality laboratories are located in Davis and O’Brien Halls. The campus laboratories for research and teaching are configured for organic and inorganic chemical analysis in air, water, and soils; process analysis for aerosol dynamics, biological transformations, photochemical reactions, and mass transfer rates in porous media; and computational facilities to support environmental transport modeling. Additional facilities, including mesocosms and experimental wetlands, are utilized at the Richmond Field Station and at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

The Geotechnical Engineering Laboratories (on campus) and the Soil Mechanics and Bituminous Materials Laboratory (situated at the Richmond Field Station) provide extensive facilities for research on soil and rock properties, soil and rock mechanics, foundation engineering, and the behavior and properties of asphalts and asphaltic mixtures. State-of-the-art computer facilities are available for test control, data acquisition, data processing, and numerical analysis. Graduate students working toward master's or doctoral degrees in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering conduct individual research in these laboratories, usually as a part of a continuing program of research conducted by faculty members.

Research Groups

The Consortium on Green Design and Manufacturing (CGDM) was formed to encourage multidisciplinary research and education on environmental management, design for environment, and pollution prevention issues in critical industries.

The Institute for Environmental Science and Engineering (IESE) is an interdisciplinary Organized Research Unit of UC Berkeley that has a mandate to support research that helps protect public health and the environment.  The institute plays a major role in supporting the efforts of the Berkeley Water Center, an organization that coordinates campus-wide research on topic such as urban water infrastructure, water and sanitation in developing countries and water-related climate change adaptation.

The Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) is a multidisciplinary program that has supported transportation research at the University of California since 1948. The ITS administers several Organized Research Units, including Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) and the Pavement Research Center. The ITS is a member of the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research consortium and is the home of the University of California Transportation Center.

The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) is a multi-institutional research and education center with headquarters at UC Berkeley. Investigators from over 20 universities, several consulting companies, and researchers at various state and federal government agencies contribute to research programs focused on performance-based earthquake engineering. These programs aim to identify and reduce the risks from major earthquakes to life safety and to the economy by including research in a wide variety of disciplines, including structural and geotechnical engineering, geology/seismology, lifelines, transportation, architecture, economics, risk management, and public policy. The center also provides software through the Open System for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (OPENSEES) project, operates the NISEE Library, and houses a Strong Motions Database of earthquake records.

Undergraduate Programs

Civil Engineering: BS
Environmental Engineering: Minor
GeoSystems: Minor
Structural Engineering: Minor

Graduate Programs

Civil and Environmental Engineering: MEng, MS, PhD

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Courses

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Faculty and Instructors

+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Faculty

Norman Abrahamson, Adjunct Professor. Civil and environmental engineering, earthquake ground motions, spectral attenuation relations .
Research Profile

Lisa Alvarez-Cohen, Professor. Environmental microbiology, biodegradation of environmental contaminants, microbial carbon cycling, molecular tools for microbial ecology, metagenomics, biological hazardous waste treatment, bioremediation of groundwater pollutants such as PCE, TCE, DCE, VC, TCA, DCA, MTBE, BTEX, PBDEs, NDMA, Dioxane, PFOS, PFOA, fire-fighting foams.
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Francisco Armero, Professor. Computational mechanics, nonlinear continuum mechanics.
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Roger Bales, Adjunct Professor. Hydrology, water resources, climate, earth science, environmental engineering .
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Alexandre M. Bayen, Professor. Transportation, modelling and control of distributed parameters systems, large scale infrastructure systems, water distribution.
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Tracy Becker, Assistant Professor. Structural dynamics and design, earthquake engineering, isolation and other high performance systems, use of novel materials in design.
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Jonathan D. Bray, Professor. Earthquake engineering, geotechnical engineering, physical and numerical modeling, environmental geotechnics.
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Michael J. Cassidy, Professor. Traffic and transportation operations, traffic control.
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Fotini Katopodes Chow, Professor. Environmental fluid mechanics, large-eddy simulation, turbulence modeling, atmospheric boundary layer flow, flow over complex terrain, urban dispersion modeling, coupled land-atmosphere modeling, wind energy applications .
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Carlos F. Daganzo, Professor. Logistics, networks, urban transportation, traffic flow .
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Mathew De Jong, Assistant Professor. Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials.
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Filip C. Filippou, Professor. Nonlinear analysis of structures, finite element analysis, seismic response simulation, seismic evaluation of structures by computer analysis .
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Ashok Gadgil, Professor. Fuel-efficient stoves, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, developing countries, drinking water, buildings energy efficiency .
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Steven D. Glaser, Professor. Wireless sensor networks, ecological monitoring, rock mechanics, geophysics, nano-seismology .
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Allen Goldstein, Professor. Global change, air pollution, environmental science, biogeochemistry, atmospheric chemistry .
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Marta Gonzalez, Associate Professor.
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Sanjay Govindjee, Professor. Finite element analysis, Theoretical and computational solid mechanics, constitutive theory, micromechanics, polymer mechanics, elastomer modeling, thermomechanics, continuum mechanics, failure analysis .
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Mark Hansen, Professor. Transportation economics, policy and planning, air transportation, public transportation .
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Robert Harley, Professor. Air pollution, atmospheric chemistry, motor vehicle emissions, ozone, sustainable transportation, air quality, emission inventory, photochemical air quality modeling, gasoline, diesel .
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Slav W. Hermanowicz, Professor. Water quality management, biofilms, membrane processes, water reuse, biological processes for water quality, physical sustainability .
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Arpad Horvath, Professor. Life cycle assessment, LCA, sustainability, green design, transportation, water, construction, biofuels, energy, environmental management, infrastructure systems .
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C. William Ibbs, Professor. Strategic trends, strategic planning, construction industry, project control, management systems, construction disputes, management of engineering and contruction projects, labor productivity, construction accounting and project finance .
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Adib Kanafani, Professor. Transportation economics, air transportation, transportation planning, transportation systems analysis, aviation policy and planning, urban and regional planning .
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Robert Kayen, Adjunct Professor. GeoSystems.
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Thomas W. Kirchstetter, Adjunct Professor. Air pollution .
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Dimitrios Konstantinidis, Assistant Professor. Structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, nonstructural components, seismic isolation, passive control.
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Laurel Larsen, Associate Professor. Hydroecology, landscape dynamics, complex environmental systems, environmental restoration.

Shaofan Li, Professor. Structural mechanics, computational mechanics and computational physics, finite element methods and meshfree particle methods, atomistic simulation and multiscale simulations, nonlinear continuum mechanics, soft matter mechanics, wave propagations, Modeling and simulation of material failures, Nano-mechanics, bio-mechanics and bio-physics, Cellular mechanics, micromechanics & composite materials .
Research Profile

Baoxia Mi, Associate Professor. Membrane separation, transport and interfacial phenomena, physicochemical processes, drinking water purification and wastewater reuse, desalination, environmental nanotechnology, and innovative applications of membrane technology to renewable energy generation, public health protection, and_hygiene and sanitation improvement for underdeveloped and disaster-ridden regions .
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Jack P. Moehle, Professor. Earthquake engineering, structural engineering, reinforced concrete, performance-based earthquake engineering, high-rise buildings, lifeline systems, rehabilitation (retrofitting), laboratory testing .
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Paulo J.M. Monteiro, Professor. Concrete behavior, structural materials .
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Khalid M. Mosalam, Professor. Earthquake engineering, concrete and masonry structures, fracture mechanics, damage mechanics .
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Scott Moura, Associate Professor. Optimal control, PDE control, estimation, adaptive control, dynamic system modeling, energy management, battery management systems, vehicle-to-grid, smart grid .
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Kara L. Nelson, Professor. Water and wastewater treatment, water reuse, detection and inactivation of pathogens in water and sludge, appropriate technologies .
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Claudia P. Ostertag, Professor. Fiber reinforced concrete, mechanical behavior, toughening mechanisms .
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James W. Rector, Professor. Geophysics, Oil and Gas, Unconventional Shale Gas Reservoirs, Horizontal Drilling, Fracking, Near Surface Seismology, Tunnel Detection, Treasure Hunting, and Geophysical Archaeology, Borehole Seismology .
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Michael Riemer, Adjunct Professor. Static evaluation, dynamic evaluation of soil properties, constitutive behavior of sands, liquefaction of unusual soils .
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Yoram N. Rubin, Professor. Risk assessment, hydrogeology, contaminant transport, geostatistics .
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David L. Sedlak, Professor. Fate and transport of and transformation of chemicals in the aquatic environment, water reuse and water recycling, urban water infrastructure, engineered treatment wetlands .
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Raja Sengupta, Professor. Transportation, wireless communications, inertial navigation for vehicle systems .
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Susan Shaheen, Professor In-Residence. Policy analysis, behavioral research, transportation, energy/environment, mobility and sharing economy, ITS (smartphone apps, automated vehicles), alternative fuels, and mobility for special populations (accessibility) .
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Zuo-Jun Max Shen, Professor. Logistics, supply chain design and management, inventory management, auction mechanism design .
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Nicholas Sitar, Professor. Geotechnical earthquake engineering, wireless sensors, seismic slope stability, seismic earth pressure, rock erosion, groundwater remediation .
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Alexander Skabardonis, Professor In-Residence. Transportation, traffic engineering, traffic control systems, traffic management, the environment .
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Kenichi Soga, Professor. Infrastructure sensing and geomechanics for energy and sustainability .
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Mark Stacey, Professor. Environmental fluid mechanics, transport and mixing in stratified flows, dynamics of estuaries, lakes and the coastal ocean, interdisciplinary applications of environmental fluid mechanics .
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Robert L. Taylor, Professor. Computational mechanics, mechanics of solids, finite element methods, finite element software .
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Sally Thompson, Associate Adjunct Professor. Nonlinear dynamics, spatial ecology, Ecohydrology, surface hydrology, arid and semi-arid watersheds and ecosystems, pattern formation, plant physiology, water resource sustainability .
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Iris D. Tommelein, Professor. Lean construction, lean production, design management, sustainability, supply-chain management, life-cycle engineering, civil infrastructure systems, adaptive project leadership, megaproject delivery, construction process engineering, integrated project delivery IPD, building information modeling BIM, virtual design and construction VDC .
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Evan A. Variano, Associate Professor. Fluid mechanics, turbulence, wetlands, imaging, plankton, sediment transport .
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Joan Walker, Professor. Behavioral modeling, with an expertise in discrete choice analysis and travel behavior .
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Affiliated Faculty

Paolo D'Odorico, Professor. Ecohydrology, Surface Hydrology, Ecosystem Ecology, Aeolian Processes, Desertification, Stochastic, Nonlinear Environmental Dynamics, Water and Food Security.
Research Profile

Paul Waddell, Professor. UrbanSim, land use models, transportation models, urban sustainability.
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Lecturers

Jasenka Rakas, Continuing Lecturer. Availability and reliability of communications, navigation and surveillance systems, airport systems planning and design, airport and airspace capacity and delay analysis, systems modeling and performance analysis, National Airspace System (NAS) infrastructure performance and investment analysis, air traffic flow management, cost/benefit analysis, simulation modeling and analysis, human factors and cognitive psychology .
Research Profile

Ronald Shumway, Continuing Lecturer. Legal Resolution of Construction-Related Disputes.
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Emeritus Faculty

James M. Anderson, Professor Emeritus. Detection of faultline movements, modern surveying techniques, image processing applications, photogrammetry.
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Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Professor Emeritus. Structural engineering, bridges, buildings, eathquake engineering, collapse of structures, Steel structures, welds, bolts, protection of buildings and bridges against terrorist attacks, self anchored suspension Bay Bridge, fatigue and fracture of structures, failure analysis, gusset plates, base plates, seismic design, ethics in engineering, registered professional engineer, long span bridges, skyscrapers, World Trade Center collapse studies.
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Robert G. Bea, Professor Emeritus. Risk management, risk assessment, reliability, human and organizational factors, quality assurance, quality control, design, construction, maintenance, operations, decommissioning, ocean engineered systems.
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Alex Becker, Professor Emeritus. Civil and environmental engineering, geoengineering, airborne electromagnetic sensing systems, detection and classification of buried metallic objects, high frequency impedance measurements for non-invasive permittivity determination.
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Jack G. Bouwkamp, Professor Emeritus.

+ Anil K. Chopra, Professor Emeritus. Earthquake engineering, structural dynamics.
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George A. Cooper, Professor Emeritus. Novel drilling methods, drill bit design, borehole stability, cryogenic drilling, diamond tooth wear, electro-osmosis to reduce bit balling .
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Keith C. Crandall, Professor Emeritus. Construction engineering.
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Armen Der Kiureghian, Professor Emeritus. Risk analysis, earthquake engineering, structural reliability, random vibrations .
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John A. Dracup, Professor Emeritus. Hydroclimatology, water resources systems, surface water hydrology .
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Mostafa Foda, Professor Emeritus. Continental shelf water dynamics, seabed mechanics .
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Richard E. Goodman, Professor Emeritus. Rock mechanics, characterization and analysis of discontinuous rocks .
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Alexander J. Horne, Professor Emeritus. Water pollution, behavior of pollutants in an aqueous environment .
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David Jenkins, Professor Emeritus. Biological wastewater treatment, water chemistry, wastewater chemistry .
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James M. Kelly, Professor Emeritus. Seismic response of structures, seismic-resistant design .
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Jacob Lubliner, Professor Emeritus. Plasticity, viscoelasticity .
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Samer M. Madanat, Professor Emeritus. Transportation systems analysis, transportation infrastructure management, transportation sustainability .
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Adolf D. May, Professor Emeritus. Operations, control systems, simulation modeling, detector systems, capacity Analysis, HOV Systems .
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Povindar K. Mehta, Professor Emeritus. Admixtures, aggregates, cements, composite materials, concrete, industrial waste management and waste reuse .
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James K. Mitchell, Professor Emeritus.

Carl L. Monismith, Professor Emeritus. Pavement design, pavement rehabilitation, asphalt paving technology, transportation facilities design .
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H. Frank Morrison, Professor Emeritus. Applied geophysics, electromagnetic methods, electrical properties of rocks, soils, field surveys and interpretation .
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William W Nazaroff, Professor Emeritus. Indoor air quality, pollutant-surface interactions, transport/mixing phenomena, aerosols, semivolatile organic compounds, bioaerosol dynamics, environmental tobacco smoke, source characterization, control techniques, exposure analysis .
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+ Juan M. Pestana, Professor Emeritus. Geotechnical engineering, environmental geotechnics, constitutive modeling of soil behavior, soil properties, numerical modeling of soil-structure interaction, geotechnical earthquake engineering .
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Karl S. Pister, Professor Emeritus. Technology, K-12 math and science education, technological literacy, society .
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Graham H. Powell, Professor Emeritus. Bridges, earthquake engineering, computing, buidings .
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+ Raymond B. Seed, Professor Emeritus. Geotechnical earthquake engineering, soil/structure interaction, slope stability, performance of dams, waste fills.
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Hsieh Wen Shen, Professor Emeritus. Fluvial hydraulics, environmental river mechanics, basic sediment transport .
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Rodney J. Sobey, Professor Emeritus. Civil and environmental engineering, coastal hydrodynamics, estuaries and wetlands, wave theory, hydrodynamic circulation in the coastal-zone, transient response modes of water bodies .
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Garrison Sposito, Professor Emeritus.

Jerome F. Thomas, Professor Emeritus. Water, applied chemistry: air, corrosion .
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Martin Wachs, Professor Emeritus. Urban Transportation Planning , Transportation Economics and Finance, Ethics in Planning.
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William C. Webster, Professor Emeritus. Nonlinear coupled motions of offshore structures, operations research, shallow-water wave mechanics .
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Edward L. Wilson, Professor Emeritus. Computational mechanics, civil and environmental engineering, systems, numerical methods, analysis and design, large structural, field testing of structures .
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Contact Information

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

760 Davis Hall

Phone: 510-642-3261

Fax: 510-643-5264

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Mark Stacey, PhD

763 Davis Hall

Phone: 510-643-8739

chair@ce.berkeley.edu

Vice-Chair for Graduate Studies

Tina Chow

760 Davis Hall

tinakc@berkeley.edu

Vice Chair for Undergraduate Studies

Michael Cassidy

760 Davis Hall

mcassidy@berkeley.edu

Graduate Staff Adviser

Shelley Okimoto

750 Davis Hall

Phone: 510-643-8944

okimoto@ce.berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Staff Adviser

Julia Konopasek

750 Davis Hall

Phone: 510-642-1022

konopasek@berkeley.edu

Graduate Staff Adviser

Felicia Bautista

750 Davis Hall

Phone: 510-643-1713

fbautista3@berkeley.edu

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