Photo of Roberto Fernández

Roberto Fernández

Assistant Professor

Affiliation(s):

  • Civil and Environmental Engineering

279 ECoRE Building

roberto@psu.edu

Research Areas:

Water Resources Engineering

 
 

 

Education

  • Lic., Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2008
  • MSc, Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012
  • PhD, Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Alice Lefebvre, Rachel Bosch, Katy Burrows, Matthieu Giaime, Guillaume Goodwin, Larry Syu-Heng Lai, Melanie Stammler and Roberto Fernández, 2025, "Geomorphica: The most accessible journal for the geomorphology community", Geomorphica
  • Jason T.-Y. Lin, Esteban Lacunza, Roberto Fernández, Marcelo H. Garcia, Bruce Rhoads, Jim Best, Jessica Z LeRoy and Gary Parker, 2025, "Hydrodynamic Processes of Incipient Meander Chute Cutoffs: Laboratory Experiments With Implications for Morphodynamics and Depth-Averaged Modeling", Water Resources Research
  • Jonathan Malarkey, Ellen M Pollard, Roberto Fernández, Xuxu Wu, Jaco H Baas and Daniel R Parsons, 2024, "Effect of bed clay on surface water-wave reconstruction from ripples", Scientific Reports
  • Catherine E Russell, Florian Pohl and Roberto Fernández, 2024, "Plastic as a Sediment – A Universal and Objective practical solution to growing ambiguity in plastic litter classification schemes", Earth-Science Reviews
  • Xuxu Wu, Jonathan Malarkey, Roberto Fernández, Jaco H Baas, Ellen Pollard and Daniel R Parsons, 2024, "Influence of cohesive clay on wave–current ripple dynamics captured in a 3D phase diagram", Earth Surface Dynamics
  • Catherine Russell, Roberto Fernández, Daniel R Parsons and Sarah Gabbott, 2023, "Plastic pollution in riverbeds fundamentally affects natural sand transport processes", Communications Earth & Environment
  • Marijke G.W. de Vet, Roberto Fernández, Jaco H Baas, William D McCaffrey and Robert M Dorrell, 2023, "Streamwise turbulence modulation in non-uniform open-channel clay suspension flows", Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
  • Sojiro Fukuda, Marijke G.W. de Vet, Edward W.G. Skevington, Elena Bastianon, Roberto Fernández, Xuxu Wu, William D McCaffrey, Hajime Naruse, Daniel R Parsons and Robert M Dorrell, 2023, "Inadequacy of fluvial energetics for describing gravity current autosuspension", Nature Communications, 14, (2288)
  • Freija Mendrik, Roberto Fernández, Chris Hackney, Catherine Waller and Daniel R Parsons, 2023, "Non-buoyant microplastic settling velocity varies with biofilm growth and ambient water salinity", Communications Earth & Environment
  • Xuxu Wu, Roberto Fernández, Jaco H Baas, Jonathan Malarkey and Dan R Parsons, 2022, "Discontinuity in Equilibrium Wave-Current Ripple Size and Shape and Deep Cleaning Associated With Cohesive Sand-Clay Beds", Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, 127, (9)
  • Roberto Fernández and Gary Parker, 2021, "Laboratory observations on meltwater meandering rivulets on ice", Earth Surface Dynamics
  • Roberto Fernández, Alejandro Vitale, Gary Parker and Marcelo H Garcia, 2020, "Hydraulic Resistance in Mixed Bedrock-Alluvial Meandering Channels", Journal of Hydraulic Research
  • Roberto Fernández, Gary Parker and Colin P Stark, 2019, "Experiments on patterns of alluvial cover and bedrock erosion in a meandering channel", Earth Surface Dynamics
  • Roberto Fernández, Marcelo H Garcia and Gary Parker, 2018, "Upper Mississippi River Flow and Sediment Characteristics and Their Effect on a Harbor Siltation Case", Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 144, (10)
  • Roberto Fernández and Marcelo H Garcia, 2017, "Input Variable Sensitivity Assessment for Sediment Transport Relations", Water Resources Research, 53, (9), pp. 8105-8119
  • Roberto Fernández and Alejandro Navas, 2012, "Pervious Concrete: Mixture design to assess its uniaxial compressive strength and permeability [In Spanish]", Road Infrastructure, 13, (24), pp. 40-49

Research Projects

Honors and Awards

  • Harry West Teaching Award, Harry West, April 2023 - March 2024
  • Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, Leverhulme Trust, September 2020 - September 2022

Service

Service to Penn State:

  • Contributions to Programs to Enhance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Committee Member, PSU, DEIB and Outreach Committee, August 2024
  • Participation in Recruitment and Retention Activities, Committee Member, PSU, DEIB and Outreach Committee, August 2024
  • Participation in Recruitment and Retention Activities, Participant, Interviews for Accessibility Expert, PSU, May 2024 - May 2024
  • Committee Work, Committee Member, Faculty Search in Environmental Engineering, December 2023 - May 2024
  • Committee Work, Committee Member, Safety Committee, August 2023
  • Committee Work, Committee Member, CEE Seminar Series, August 2022 - July 2023

Service to External Organizations:

  • Service to Public and Private Organizations, Organizer, AGU EPSP Connects Webinar Series, 2021
  • Service to Public and Private Organizations, Chairperson, Steering committee of Geomorphica, an upcoming Diamond Open Access Journal in Geomorphology, 2020
  • Other, Chairperson, AGU, EPSP Connects, September 2024
 


 

About

The Penn State Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, established in 1881, is internationally recognized for excellence in the preparation of undergraduate and graduate engineers through the integration of education, research, and leadership.

Penn State University

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

208 Engineering Collaborative Research and Education (ECoRE) Building 

556 White Course Dr 

University Park, PA 16802-1408

Phone: 814-863-3084