Senior Wetland Hydrologist

 Alex has over 10 years of wetland science experience in academic, government, and private-sector roles. His interest in wetland restoration began while employed as a research assistant at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), studying the geological processes driving the creation and loss of Louisiana’s coastal marshes. He earned a Ph.D. at Tulane University under the guidance of Dr. Alex Kolker and Dr. Caz Taylor investigating the interactions among plant communities, sedimentary processes, and hydrology in newly forming wetlands. As a postdoctoral researcher at Nicholls State University, he worked with Dr. Sean Graham and Dr. Tracy Quirk to study brackish wetland vegetation responses to increased nutrient and mineral sediment inputs. Portions of Alex’s research were sponsored by the Water Institute of the Gulf and will inform the planning of large-scale sediment diversions of the Mississippi River into deteriorating wetlands.

He began working with NRP in 2019 providing hydrology solutions for numerous wetland mitigation banks. He has developed HEC-RAS hydrodynamic models for the LSU AgCenter Mitigation Bank in St. Gabriel, LA and the Edwina Mitigation Bank in Choupic, LA. Alex’s responsibilities with NRP include developing and operating hydrodynamic models, coordinating a remote sensing network of hydrologic monitoring stations, collecting field data, analyzing quantitative and geospatial data, producing technical reports for clients and regulatory agencies, and evaluating potential future mitigation projects. 

Alex’s areas of expertise include hydrodynamic modeling, wetland plant ecology, coastal sediment dynamics, GIS, and statistical analysis.

Education

• B.S., Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia (2010)
• Ph.D., Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University (2017)