NHERI Graduate Student Council

Harman Singh is a dual-title Ph.D. candidate in Geography and Climate Science at Penn State University. Her primary study area is urban flooding, climate adaptation, and water resource management in India. Her research integrates multimodal data (data that spans different types and contexts) to uncover flood histories in data-scarce environments through spatial analysis, remote sensing, natural language processing, and qualitative methods. She is a graduate research assistant at the Riparia Lab, where she is part of interdisciplinary teams researching transboundary water sharing in India and the evolving landscape of solar and fracking infrastructure in Pennsylvania.

Harman has been a member of NHERI GSC since its inception in 2021 and has served as the Vice-Chair (2021-2023) and Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee (2023-2024). In these roles, she has led workshops for the NHERI REU program as well as GSC, collaborated and organized funding opportunities such as the 2024 travel award to attend the Natural Hazards Workshop, wrote a collaborative journal paper on the 2024 NHERI GSC Mini-Conference, co-authored the GSC’s inclusivity statement and DEI resources page, represented NHERI GSC at the 2022 Natural Hazards Summit, and hosted several invited talks and networking events. As the Chair of her college’s Sustainability Council: Student Committee, executive committee member of Supporting Women in Geography (SWIG), and president of the Penn State Association of Water Students (PAWS), Harman has experience fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment as well as communicating and advocating for the needs of graduate students. Harman aspires to apply her past leadership skills and experiences as a GSC member to develop a shared vision plan, facilitate cross-committee projects, and reinforce knowledge exchange between GSC members and GSC alumni. Through NHERI GSC, Harman has gained invaluable resources, a sense of belonging, and a deeper understanding of the field. She hopes to continue the legacy of NHERI GSC by fostering a supportive and thriving community for graduate students by encouraging collaboration, innovation, and personal growth.

Richard Campos is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oklahoma working with the Oklahoma NSF EPSCoR, a multidisciplinary program designed to enhance Oklahoma’s exploration and growth in the STEM fields, to provide resilience strategies for infrastructure systems by analyzing hazards (e.g., ice storms, wildfires, earthquakes, and winds), risk, and fragility of electrical and transportation infrastructure components to better infrastructure resiliency. He works alongside many scientists such as geographers, meteorologists, social scientists, and other engineers to provide socially sustainable solutions for water, carbon, and infrastructure resilience in Oklahoma. He aims to become a professor and help communities and organizations enhance their current infrastructure system’s resilience to severe natural hazards by teaching and advancing the field of resilience engineering.

Jordan Nakayama is a third year doctoral student in Structural Engineering at Auburn University. Her research focuses on developing theory guided data science frameworks for learning from post-event windstorm reconnaissance data, bringing together her field reconnaissance experience with her knowledge of structural engineering to holistically understand structural performance in windstorms. As the current Secretary of NHERI GSC, she has helped establish precedence for the NHERI GSC communication and documentation, specifically so in leading the Annual Report Committee which published the first ever NHERI GSC Annual Report. She is passionate about the opportunities that NHERI GSC provides its members, attending the AAWE Conference and NHERI Summer Institute through funding opportunities provided to her in her involvement in NHERI GSC. Jordan is committed to furthering NHERI GSC’s reach and impact through educating new members and communicating with current members as she hopes to continue in her role of Secretary of this incredible organization.

Anamika Malla is a PhD student majoring in Wind Science and Engineering in National Wind Institute at Texas Tech University. Her research focusses on fluid-structure interactions, specifically numerical investigation of tornado-like loads on low-rise buildings. Anamika’s research is twofold: numerical simulation through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and validation with experimental simulation of tornado-like loads. Anamika's group was the SimCenter winner at Computational Academy 2023 at UT, Austin.

Natalie Coleman is a PhD student at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Texas A&M University, under the construction engineering management program. She is a graduate research assistant at Urban Resilience.AI, a lab focusing on interdisciplinary and data-driven solutions for infrastructure resilience. Leveraging machine learning and human mobility data, her research integrates equity strategies into infrastructure management during hazards like Hurricane Harvey and Winter Storm Uri. Natalie has personally benefitted from NHERI funding by participating in the NHERI Summer Institute, where she enhanced her proposal writing skills and networked with scholars across the country. As treasurer, she will search for funding sources and compile clear financial reports to help more students take advantage of NHERI opportunities. As the former Scholarship Chair of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE-TAMU), her committee awarded 10 graduate scholarships. Now, as the President of WISE-TAMU, she oversees and promotes professional development seminars, outreach, and networking events and communicates with potential academic and corporate sponsors. This past year, she also advocated for research funds at the Texas State Capital as an AURA alumni and the US House of Representatives as a CASE Fellow. Natalie has applied for and been awarded by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, P.E.O. International, and NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education. Natalie will blend her knowledge of scholarships, proposals, and political advocacy writing to support the NHERI graduate student council, and she would be honored to work with and learn from a group of distinguished scholars.

Burak Duran, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of New Hampshire, specializes in Structural Engineering. His research centers around Deep Learning-based Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges and Transfer Learning applications. By leveraging deep learning techniques, he assesses the current health state of bridges, detects damage, and pinpoints its location. He investigates the transferability of knowledge gained from one bridge to another through Transfer Learning. This impactful project is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and involves collaborative and multi-disciplinary efforts with several other universities. As a Fulbright Scholar, Burak holds an M.Sc. degree with a focus on Structural and Earthquake Engineering from the University at Buffalo. His academic journey extends beyond the classroom—following major earthquakes, he has actively participated in reconnaissance studies to delve into the underlying causes and profound effects of natural disasters on communities. He has published several journal papers, conference proceedings, and technical reports in this field. Furthermore, he holds membership in several professional organizations, including the NHERI GSC, EERI, StEER, and ASCE. His work advances the field of structural engineering and contributes to community resilience in the face of extreme events.

Esteban Villalobos Vega is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. His research focus is on the tridimensional performance of seismic isolation systems for critical, sensitive, and/or essential non-structural components to improve society resilience, by using innovative experimental techniques such as real-type hybrid simulation. Before beginning his Ph.D. program, he gathered 15 years of experience as a practitioner in structural engineering in Costa Rica working on challenging and multidisciplinary projects with high social impact such as adaption to climate change and development of cost-efficient bridge management policies in conjunction with governmental officials, among others. In terms of the NHERI network, he has been part of the NHERI GSC since its inaugural meeting; he is an active user of the NHERI Lehigh facility, which allowed him to work as a graduate mentor in the NHERI REU Summer Program for two years; additionally, he attended the 2022 NHERI Summer Institute where he met most of the current members of the NHERI User Forum; finally, he has grown through all the resources that NHERI has available for the natural hazard engineering community.

Daniel Yahya is a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Auburn University. His research focuses on advancing the sustainability and resilience of the built environment against natural and climatological hazards, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, by integrating engineering principles with emerging technologies like machine learning and computer vision. As the current Chair of Membership for NHERI GSC, Daniel has played a pivotal role in managing and expanding the organization's membership within the United States and beyond. Over the past year, he has led outreach initiatives targeting universities, faculties, and professional organizations with potential members—graduate students interested in natural hazards research. Under his leadership, the membership has grown significantly, and he continues to spearhead efforts to expand NHERI GSC’s international presence. In addition to his work with NHERI GSC, Daniel serves as a senator on the Graduate Student Council at Auburn University, where he passionately advocates for the interests of graduate students in his department. His track record of committee involvement is further enriched by his role on the Concession Board at Auburn University, where he evaluates and recommends funding for university-wide initiatives, and on the First-Year Experience Committee, where he applies his leadership skills to improve the experience of first-year graduate students. Daniel’s multifaceted leadership skills are instrumental in his commitment to furthering NHERI GSC’s reach and impact. He is dedicated to continuing his role as Chair of Membership, propelling the organization’s growth both within the United States and internationally.

Wesam Mohamed is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Wesam's research focuses on the resilience of communities and the built environment against natural hazards, particularly tornado-related ones. Having completed his Master of Science degree at Western University in Canada, Wesam conducted research on the progressive failure of transmission line towers under different tornado wind fields. Within the NHERI-GSC community, Wesam served NHERI-GSC as the Wind Engineering Research Subcommittee Representative, contributing to discussions and initiatives aimed at advancing wind engineering research. Beyond his academic pursuits, Wesam has demonstrated strong leadership abilities through various student leadership roles on both local and national levels. Wesam is planning to use his organizational and communication skills to recruit new members to NHERI and to increase engagement with current members. In addition to his role within NHERI-GSC, Wesam is participating in the NHERI GSC research challenge as part of the 2024 Mini-GSC conference, further demonstrating his dedication to advancing research and collaboration within the community.

Rajendra Gautam is currently a master's student of Earthquake Engineering (structure) at Thapathali Campus, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. He has another master's degree in management and a professional degree in Project Management and WASH/Solid Waste. He has excellent steward management skills and delivery techniques with more than 10 years of demonstrated experience in civil engineering construction projects and consulting. He has worked for the United Nations as a national volunteer and a project manager in an international non-governmental organization in disaster recovery and reconstruction projects. From the beginning, he established the disaster mitigation measures required for community resiliency and enhanced the performance of infrastructures against hazards, preparing communities to be adept and resilient through capacity building. Moreover, his research areas of interest are structural control and isolation, affordable and sustainable construction, Disaster risk mitigation (DRR), critical infrastructures, and artificial intelligence like structural programming language using OpenSees/Python, C++, GIS, R & GEE, and MATLAB. He was involved in 2023 NHERI GSC Research Group Challenge with team #3 as a lead for developing and testing mitigation measures, shifting the vulnerability, and sustainable development.

Benjamin Labar, born 28 years ago in Abuja, Nigeria, holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with First Class Honours from the esteemed Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi. Currently, he is pursuing a master’s degree in Infrastructure Engineering at the prestigious Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Transportation Sciences, Széchenyi István University of Győr, Hungary where he is in his second year of study. His research is inherently multi-disciplinary, encompassing hazard assessment, seismic design, Environmental Impact Assessment, and Life Cycle Assessment. Benjamin's academic journey mirrors his profound passion for technological advancement, human development, and the exchange of knowledge. Beyond the confines of the classroom, Benjamin derives fulfillment from exploring new destinations, delving into the expansive realm of the internet, and engaging in spirited games of badminton. He is an active Student Member of The American Society of Civil Engineers (S.M.ASCE) and an alumnus of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT-Alumni).

Parisa Toofani Movaghar is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Notre Dame. Her research is centered on the development of advanced data-driven tools aimed at improving computational efficiency and accuracy in regional hazard risk assessments, with a particular focus on coastal and earthquake hazards. Prior to her doctoral studies, Parisa worked as a multidisciplinary researcher, delivering practical solutions for structural analysis problems through web-based platforms using the Django framework and Python. Her work includes extracting actionable insights from data and developing predictive models for structural responses, such as seismic behavior, utilizing advanced statistical methods. Originally from Iran, a region deeply impacted by natural hazards, Parisa is committed to promoting a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the natural hazards’ community. She advocates for the inclusion of diverse perspectives in hazard-related research and decision-making and strives to enhance this culture through responsive risk communication, equitable policy and planning, and inclusive research practices.

Graduating with a master's degree in 'Engineering in Natural Disasters' from the University of Tehran, Iran's top university, Nasim is now a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at Washington State University, focusing on wildfire research. Her work directly aligns with NHERI's mission to mitigate natural hazards through innovative research. As a woman in engineering with substantial experience in the construction industry and academia, she brings a unique perspective that underscores the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in driving scientific and engineering advancements. Her goal is to leverage her background and insights to further integrate DEI principles into NHERI's culture, fostering an environment that champions diverse perspectives and promotes equity.

Nurullah Bektaş, a PhD candidate in Structural Engineering and Geotechnics at Széchenyi István University in Győr, Hungary, holds BSc and MSc degrees in Civil Engineering from the İzmir Institute of Technology. His expertise lies in seismic risk reduction and Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) of existing buildings. He has earned several awards and scholarships, including the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Turkey Scholarship, Tempus Public Foundation Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship, ECCOMAS Scholarship, and EGU Scholarship. His current research focuses on advancing RVS methods for pre-earthquake building assessments, leveraging cutting-edge AI algorithms. He is a prolific writer with a substantial portfolio of publications in various journals, conference papers, and proceedings. As a Research Assistant at Széchenyi István University, he teaches multiple courses, mentors, and supervises both undergraduate and master's students. Nurullah actively participates in professional organizations such as Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER), NHERI Graduate Student Council (GSC), Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT), and Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA). Furthermore, he contributes to post-earthquake site investigations and reports, providing insights into seismic events and their impact.

Soolmaz Kashkalam is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Applied Mechanic and Material at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Originating from Iran, she completed a Bachelor's and master’s degrees in Structural Engineering, honing her skills and knowledge in this field. Her primary research focus lies in the resilience of structures under extreme events, an area of study that was both challenging and deeply rewarding. Drawing from experiences as a former member of the National Swim Team in Iran, she learned the importance of discipline, determination, and teamwork. As she continues her academic journey, she is also preparing for a marathon, symbolizing her commitment to endurance and the pursuit of long-term goals.

Shelley McMullen is a doctoral candidate in the Planning, Geography and Design program at University of Colorado Denver. Her first career in civil engineering specializing in drainage, stormwater and flood management led her to pursue a dual master's degree in public administration and urban planning, and now a PhD in urban planning. Her dissertation research is focused on the tensions of land use planning and disaster risk management policy in Rwanda. Shelley is a part-time urban planning lecturer and has also been a research assistant and teaching assistant. On the volunteer side, Shelley has served as the chair of the Denver Mayor’s Pedestrian Advisory committee and currently serves as communications chair on the board of a Women in Design which is a local nonprofit intended to support women in a variety of design fields. Both the experience volunteering for an organization promoting networking between disciplines and background from both technical and social science reveal her commitment to the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration. She hopes to bring this enthusiasm to helping build community within the NHERI GSC. Not only is networking helpful for having the space to share some of the challenges of graduate school, tackling the complexity of disaster research needs strong partnerships between researchers with diverse expertise.

Shelley McMullen is a doctoral candidate in the Planning, Geography and Design program at the University of Colorado Denver. Her first career in civil engineering specializing in drainage, stormwater and flood management led her to pursue a dual master's degree in public administration and urban planning, and now a PhD in urban planning. Her dissertation research is focused on the tensions of land use planning and disaster risk management policy in Rwanda. Shelley is a part-time urban planning lecturer and has also been a research assistant and teaching assistant. On the volunteer side, Shelley has served as the chair of the Denver Mayor’s Pedestrian Advisory committee and currently serves as communications chair on the board of a Women in Design which is a local nonprofit intended to support women in a variety of design fields. Both the experience volunteering for an organization promoting networking between disciplines and background from both technical and social science reveal her commitment to the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration. She hopes to bring this enthusiasm to helping build community within the NHERI GSC. Not only is networking helpful for having the space to share some of the challenges of graduate school, tackling the complexity of disaster research needs strong partnerships between researchers with diverse expertise.

Avipriyo Chakraborty is a Ph.D. student in Geotechnical Engineering at Jackson State University, starting in fall 2021. Avipriyo completed his bachelor’s in civil engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in February 2013 and his master’s in science in Civil Engineering from Jackson State University in March 2023. Avipriyo has served as a professional engineer for seven years with areas of expertise in designing concrete and steel structures, foundation design, retrofitting of structures, and construction supervision. Right now, Avipriyo is working on a vegetation-based climate adaptive slope failure solution using Vetiver. In his research, he is exploring the impact of Vetiver based on laboratory testing, on-site subsurface investigation involving electric resistivity imaging, LiDAR, installed in situ sensor data, limit equilibrium method and Finite element method-based numerical analysis and machine learning modeling. As a researcher, Avipriyo has coauthored technical reports, journals, peer-reviewed conferences, technical reports, and presentations. Avipriyo has also won multiple national and international competitions, including the SWANA design competition in 2021 and the Geo video competition in 2023. He is serving as a chair of social media & outreach in the NHERI Student Council, a graduate student council funded by the National Science Foundation. He is also a student member of ASCE and has been selected as a member of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, Golden Key Honor Society for excellent academic record.

Vishal Mishra is pursuing his Ph.D. in the application of AI and Geomatic Techniques for mapping and monitoring of Landslides from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India. He scored All India Rank 39 in the GATE Exam (Geomatics Engineering) in 2022. For his work, he has been awarded the GRSG Student Award 2019 and the HIDA Helmholtz Visiting Researcher Fellowship. He has been worked as a Visiting Scientist at GFZ Potsdam, Germany. He was also selected for many other fellowships and grants. Vishal has been profoundly active on Social Media platforms both personally as well as has handled the Social Media accounts of two international conferences in which he was involved as part of Organizing Committees.

The coastal engineering representative position is currently vacant.

Anoop Kumar Tiwari is currently a research scholar at IIT Bhubaneswar, India, specializing in structural engineering with a focus on bridge engineering and the behavior of pile foundations, particularly p-y curves under dynamic loading and liquefaction. He holds a Master’s degree in Geotechnical Engineering from NIT Rourkela and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Barkatullah University, Bhopal. Anoop has previously worked as an Assistant Professor at Rewa Engineering College and Mittal Institute of Technology. He has also completed professional development programs at IIM Udaipur, IIM Raipur, and IIT Indore. His technical skills include proficiency in SAP2000, PLAXIS, Abaqus, and Opensees. Anoop is dedicated to advancing his research and making significant contributions to the field of structural engineering.

The geotechnical engineering representative position is currently vacant.

The reconnaissance representative position is currently vacant.

Bijan Sayyaf Zadeh is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil and Structural Engineering at the Qom University in Qom, Iran working with IIEES (International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology) on a multidisciplinary thesis about developing a flexible and extensible platform for quantitative risk assessment of natural hazards triggered technological accidents (Specifically Oil and Gas industries). His main interest is on numerical calculations and proposing new algorithms and creating and developing engineering software and systems or platforms. Providing diverse engineering software and making interaction between various engineering software using programming languages like Python, MATLAB and VB are some sample of his activities. He was elected as the top student during his master's degree in structural engineering at the Persian Gulf University (PGU), Iran and his thesis was on proposing a new algorithm for existing accelerograms modification to get more compatibility on a target spectrum. Working on fragilities of various industrial structures, seismic hazard analysis and quantitative risk assessment are his current main fields of research.

Erin Boyle uses she/her pronouns and is a doctoral student at Virgnia Tech in the Sociology department. Her research interests include food systems and how they are affected by disaster and hazard events. Between 2022 and 2024, Boyle worked with Dr. Liesel Ritchie to complete her master’s thesis titled, “The Role of Community-Based Organizations in Sudden-Onset and Chronic Disasters: The Case of Jackson, Mississippi, USA.” She has also worked with Ritchie on a grant with Feeding America by acting as the project manager and conducting qualitative interviews related to COVID-19 and changing food insecurity. Boyle is an aspiring disaster scholar and aims to continue working with community-based organizations to understand the methods used to assist vulnerable populations.

The tsunami representative position is currently vacant.

The wind engineering representative position is currently vacant.