Dominic Libera, PhD + Hydroclimatology Researcher 

Education

 

2013-2018  Doctorate of Philosophy in Civil Engineering

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

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2011 - 2013 Master of Science in Environmental Engineering

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

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2007 - 2011 Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Magna Cum Laude, University Scholar

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Experience

North Carolina State University -FER Department, Raleigh, NC                                                              November 2020-August 2022

Postdoctoral Researcher

• Quantifying downstream benefits to drinking water supply provided by upstream forest cover

• Involved in multiple SWAT modelling projects across the southeastern United States estimating water quantity and quality

• Projecting future forest loss with associated effects to water quality and respective economic costs

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University of Central Florida-CECE Department, Orlando, FL                                                                   October 2018-October 2020

Postdoctoral Researcher

• Researching how high and low flow years affect the recharge and resiliency of southeastern aquifers

• Exploring how the water-energy nexus is affected for hydropower and irrigation dominated reservoir systems during groundwater drawn down scenarios

• Modeling surface-groundwater interaction using modified physical based models

Adjunct Faculty

• Instructor of record for: Engineering Analysis: Statics (EGN 3310) in Spring 2020, Hydraulics (CWR 4202) in Summer 2020, and Hydrology (CWR 4120) in Fall 2020

 

North Carolina State University -CCEE Department, Raleigh, NC                                                             January 2011-August 2018

Graduate Research Assistant

• Reduced uncertainty in water quality predictions from regression and mechanistic based models across the Southeastern U.S., advised by Dr. Sankar Arumugam. Funded by NSF Career Grant.  Spring 2014-present

• Researched the transmission of Norovirus shed in vomitus during projectile vomiting under the direction of Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus.  Funded by the USDA-NIFA Food Virology Collaborative (NoroCORE) through the NCSU Food Science Department. Spring 2011-Fall 2013

 

North Carolina State University -CCEE Department, Raleigh, NC                                                              August 2011-January 2018

Instructor and Teaching Assistant (TA)

• Instructor of record for Hydraulics (CE 382) during the following semesters: Spring 2018, Summers 2015, 2016, and 2017

• Co-Instructor for Undergraduate Hydrology (CE 383) for Spring 2017. Taught the first half of the semester up to Exam 1

• Served as a TA for the Hydraulics Lab (CE 381) Fall 2014-Fall 2015. Involved with restructuring the course (i.e. created new labs, quizzes, and assignments)

• Served as a TA for Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering (CE 373), Water Supply and Waste Water Systems (CE 484), and Engineering Hydrology (CE 586) during graduate school

 

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Publications (Google Scholar)

Yao, L., Libera, D. A., Kheimi, M., Sankarasubramanian, A., & Wang, D. (2020). The Roles of Climate Forcing and Its Variability on Streamflow at Daily, Monthly, Annual, and Long‐Term Scales. Water Resources Research, 56(7), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027111

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Xie, K., Liu, P., Zhang, J., Libera, D. A., Wang, G., Li, Z., & Wang, D. (2020). Verification of a New Spatial Distribution Function of Soil Water Storage Capacity Using Conceptual and SWAT Models. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 25(3). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001887

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Libera, D. A., Sankarasubramanian, A., Sharma, A., & Reich, B. J. (2018). A non-parametric bootstrapping framework embedded in a toolkit for assessing water quality model performance. Environmental Modelling & Software, 107(April), 25–33. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.05.013

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Libera, D. A., & Sankarasubramanian, A. (2018). Multivariate bias corrections of mechanistic water quality model predictions. Journal of Hydrology, 564(March), 529–541. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.07.043

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Tung-Thompson, G., Libera, D. A., Koch, K. L., de los Reyes, F. L., & Jaykus, L.-A. (2015). Aerosolization of a Human Norovirus Surrogate, Bacteriophage MS2, during Simulated Vomiting. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0134277. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134277