Meet Our People

Executive Director

Matt Womble

Executive Director, Alabama Water Institute

Photo of Matt Womble, AWI's Executive Director

AWI Research Entity Directors

Steven J. Burian, Ph.D., PE

Executive Director, CIROH; Director of Science, Alabama Water Institute; Professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering

Steve Burian, Ph.D.

AWI Directors

Lanna Nations

Research Education and Outreach Program Director

Lanna Nations Photo

Stefanie O’Neill, M.A.

Director Research Institute Financial Affairs

Stefanie O'Neill photo

AWI Staff

Virgestine Bone

Subaward Coordinator I

Photo of Virgestine Bone

Allison Chapman

Accountant II

photo of Allison Chapman

Cass Saenz

Financial Analyst

Photograph of Cass Saenz

Sarah Sherrill

Events Coordinator

Photo of Sarah Sherrill

Amrutha Suresh, Ph.D.

AWI Postdoctoral Fellow

Denny Chimes

Marie Wilson

Education and Outreach Coordinator

Photograph of Marie Wilson

AWI Student Employees

Riley Baird

Multimedia Intern

Denny Chimes

Roseline Soto Velazquez

Graphic Design Intern

Denny Chimes

Ashley Villegas

Education & Outreach Intern

Photograph of Ashley Villegas

CIROH Staff

C. Bullen

CIROH Project Coordinator

Denny Chimes

Yun-Jae Choung

Water Node Operations Manager

Denny Chimes

Sagy Cohen

Deputy Director, CIROH
Professor of Geography

Photography of Dr. Sagy Cohen

Josh Cunningham

Software Scientist II

Denny Chimes

Juzer Dhondia

Physical Scientist

Photograph of Juzer Dhondia

Bhavya Duvvuri, Ph.D.

CIROH Postdoctoral Fellow

Denny Chimes

Xia Feng

Physical Scientist

Denny Chimes

Camaron George

Physical Scientist

Denny Chimes

Rich Gibbs

Geospatial Scientist

Denny Chimes

Dong Ha Kim, Ph.D.

Physical Scientist

Photograph of Dr. Dong Ha Kim

James Halgren, Ph.D., PE

Assistant Director Science and Research Operations

James Halgren photo

Sonam Lama

Programmer Analyst I

Denny Chimes

Benjamin Lee, M.S.

Development Operations Engineer

Benjamin Lee

Quinn Lee

Programmer Analyst II

Denny Chimes

Travis Loof, Ph.D.

Social & Communication Scientist

Photograph of Dr. Travis Loof.

Charity McCalpin

CIROH Research Project Coordinator

Charity McCalpin photograph

Alemayehu Midekisa

Geospatial Scientist

Photograph of Alemayehu Midekisa

Arpita Patel

Manager Development Operations and Enterprise Architect

Photo of Arpita Patel

Chad Perry

Software Scientist

Denny Chimes

Ryan Ruiz

CIROH Communications Specialist II

Denny Chimes

Dina Sang

Physical Scientist

Photograph of Dina Sang

JunHo Song, Ph.D.

Hydrologic Scientist I

Photograph of Junho Song. Portrait of a man wearing glasses and a dark blue suit with a light blue button-up shirt, standing in front of a neutral gray background.

Sai Harsha Vemula

DevOps Engineer

Denny Chimes

Elliot Wickham, Ph.D.

Hydrologic Scientist I

Photograph of Dr. Elliot Wickham

Kaelin Wincek, MBA

CIROH Administrative Assistant I

Photo of Kaelin Wincek

CONSERVE Staff

Michael McKain, Ph.D

Assistant Director of Future Ecologies

Photograph of Dr. Michael McKain

Katrina Ducre

CONSERVE Research Program Coordinator

Photo of Katrina Ducre

Ellis Halgren

Public Land Corps Intern

Photograph of Ellis Halgren

Parker King

Graduate Research Assistant

Photograph of Parker King

Ekaterina Menkina

Graduate Research Assistant

Photograph of Ekaterina Menkina

Anthony Vedral

CONSERVE Sea Grant Research Coordinator

Photograph of Anthony Vedral

GWSC Staff

Penny Beames

Contractor

Photograph of Penny Beames

LaCrecia Brown

Program Coordinator

Photograph of LaCrecia Brown

Emma Dyson

Cartographer

Photograph of Emma Dyson

Misty Mathews

Chief of Staff
Strategic Operations Program Manager.

Photograph of Misty Matthews