Associate Professor of Engineering

Areas of Interest: Land-atmosphere interactions, Hydrometeorology, Ecohydrology, Remote sensing, Fluid dynamics, Numerical and statistical modeling

Link to CV

Christopher is an eco-hydrologist that researches how land surface heterogeneity affects the coupling between vegetation and the atmosphere. The goal of his research is to better define the response of vegetation to climatic variability, especially during droughts and future climate change. To do this research, he uses a combination of a simple empirical model, which he developed in his PhD, and land surface models to explore how uncertainty and variability in roots, soil, and rock affect vegetation’s access to water, and subsequently their growth and health.

Education:

Ph.D. UC Santa Barbara, 2023

M.E.S.M. UC Santa Barbara, 2015

B.A. Environmental Studies, CU Boulder 2012

My academic interests are in environmental modeling, dynamical systems, applied mathematics, and STEM education. I taught high school in the Lyceum Academy of New Hanover High School in Wilmington, NC for six years before returning to graduate school. Outside of work, I like exploring Winston-Salem with my wife and son, spending time at the beach, and playing golf. 

Personal Website

Education:

M.A. Mathematics, WFU '20

M.A.Ed Secondary Science WFU '12

B.S./B.A. Physics/Mathematics UNCW '11

Hey y'all! I am David, an Ecuadorian environmental engineer, specializing in remote sensing and eco-hydrological modeling. I am currently obtaining my Ph.D. degree in Physics at WFU. My research focuses on understanding tropical montane cloud forests and the role of epiphytes in water and energy cycles. My work combines field-based innovation, including low-cost 3D-printed sensors, and advanced modeling techniques, including machine learning approaches, to estimate forest density, lifting condensation at ground level, and distribution of Montane Cloud Forests across the world. 

I am a first year Physics PhD student at Wake Forest, and my current research objective is to couple epiphyte water balance models to host tree models in tropical montane cloud forests. Other objectives and interests include: utilizing remote sensing and environmental modeling to study land atmosphere interactions. Specifically how these interactions contribute to changing climates, and how extreme weather events compound to affect carbon budgets estimates across the Southeast US. 

Applied Mathematics ('26)

Engineering ('26)

Engineering ('26)

I'm an environmental scientist and, specifically, an ecohydrologist. I'm interested in the role of vegetation in coupling the fluxes of water and carbon between land and atmosphere. My over-arching research objective is to connect scientific advances spanning several scales. For example, how does the anatomy of plant xylem drive its behavior to droughts? I'm currently a postdoc studying wildfire spread and the vegetation dynamics pre- and post-fire. As an engineer by training, I'm interested in applying tools from physics and engineering to my environmental science questions. Such tools are graph theory, percolation theory, and the calculus of variation.

I graduated with a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Duke University in 2020 and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut in 2016.

https://www.assaadmrad.com/

Environmental Science ('25)

Physics ('24)

Engineering ('24)

Engineering ('23)

Engineering ('23)

Physics ('22)

Engineering ('22)

Mechanical Engineering ('21)

Polytechnical University of Catalonia, Barcelona

Engineering ('21)

Engineering ('22)

Engineering ('21)

Biology ('21)

Economics ('22)