People

Assistant Professor

Nima Shokri

Boston University
Department of Earth Sciences
675 Commonwealth Ave., Room 140-B
Boston, MA 02215, USA
Email: nshokri@bu.edu
Phone: 001-617-358-6122
Fax: 001-617-353-2532

I did my bachelor and master degrees in mechanical engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Iran and did my PhD in mechanics of solid and fluids at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) followed by a postdoc at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) in Switzerland under supervision of Prof. Dani Or.

I have broad research interests in miscible, immiscible multiphase flow and transport phenomena in porous media which is ubiquitous in many engineering and environemntal applications. The main goal of my research is to provide a better physical understanding of the mechanisms governing micro- and macro-scale dynamics of various interfacial and multiphase processes in porous media by combining theory and experiments. The current projects in my research group include I) analysis of the evaporation from porous media, II) understanding the dynamics of salt distribution in porous media, III) delineating the acoustical signature of the propagating drying front in porous media, and IV) understanding the crack dynamics and patterns in desiccating clay. For complete list of my academic activities and publication list, see my CV.

Graduate Students

Mansoureh Norouzi Rad

Contact: mnrad@bu.edu

I received my B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Tehran, Iran and my M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Northeastern University, Boston, MA. I am currently doing my PhD in department of Earth Sciences at Boston University.

I am interested in "Flow and Transport in Porous Media" and my research focuses on the dynamics of salt distribution during evaporation from porous media. I study salt transport and precipitation in soil and its effects on drying characteristics of the medium. I am developing models along with experiments to describe this phenomenon best.

Undergraduate Students

Nicholas Grapsas

Contact: nikograpsas@gmail.com

I am a geophysics and planetary science major from the class of 2013. I originally became interested in the sciences while studying astronomy during senior year of high school. Although I still set time aside for late-night stargazing, the earth sciences have recently captured my interest. Currently, my research focuses on understanding of the acoustical signature of the drying front movement in porous media. I use acoustic emission technique to analyze the effects of the grain size distribution on the drying front displacement in porous media. My ultimate goal is to offer a noninvasive mean to describe the drying behavior of porous media and also estimate its texture by "listening" to water movement.

Russel Wilcox-Cline

Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, 2013
Contact: rwilcox@bu.edu

My research area is focused on gas hydrate and hydrate bearing sediments, namely how pore scale processes affect hydrate formation. The current aim of my research involves the use of acoustic emission to quantify THF hydrate formation in sediment with various grain size distributions. The goal is to be able to produce a mathematical model that quantifies the formation of THF hydrate, by employing both theoretical and empirical techniques.

Keita DeCarlo

Contact: decarlo@bu.edu

I am an undergraduate pursuing a B.A. in environmental science and an M.A. in remote sensing and GIS. I am interested in hydrologic processes in arid environments, and my current research focuses on desiccation cracks, namely the mathematical and physical processes that govern its formation and propagation.

Former Students

Michael Dyonisius (undergraduate, 2010)

Kimberly Wong (undergraduate, 2010)