People

Dr. Frances Davenport (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at CSU. She received an undergraduate degree in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College, after which she worked as a surface water engineer in Denver, CO before pursuing her Ph.D. in Earth System Science from Stanford University. She was then a postdoc in CSU’s Department of Atmospheric Science before joining the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2023. In her free time, Frances enjoys spending time with her family, riding one of her many bikes around Fort Collins or on the surrounding trails, working in her garden, skiing, or floating down a river. You can find her current CV here.

Mike Talbot (he/him) is a PhD student in the Hydrologic Sciences & Engineering program at CSU. His research interests span the intersections between climate change, hydrology, flood mitigation, and data science. Mike received his bachelor’s degree in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and his master’s degree in Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2009 and 2019, respectively. From 2013 to 2023, he worked as a water resources engineering consultant performing watershed planning, floodplain management, and storm water modeling across the midwestern US and eastern Canada. Mike also enjoys cross-country skiing, hiking, wrestling his dogs, playing guitar too loudly, and (responsibly) biking between Fort Collins’ myriad breweries and distilleries. Learn more about Mike at his website.

Bill Doan is a PhD student in the CEE Department at CSU. Bill’s dissertation research will focus on climate change impacts on transboundary Rivers and international water-sharing agreements. Bill recently retired from his position with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where over his career he served as the Senior Water Resources Engineer at the U.S. Embassy Brasilia Brazil, U.S. Embassy Islamabad Pakistan, and U.S. Embassy Kabul Afghanistan. Prior to his work abroad, Bill has extensive experience working on hydrologic and hydraulic analysis of large river systems, including serving as a Senior Water Resources Manager at the USACE working on reservoir forecasting and operations in the Missouri River Basin. Bill has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nebraska and an M.S. degree in Hydrology from Colorado State University. You can learn more about Bill at his website.

Alexandria Rodgers is a PhD student co-advised by Antonio Meira Neto and Frances Davenport. Alexandria graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2014 and subsequently commissioned as an intelligence officer in the US Army. She spent the next eight years living and working abroad as a political and social analyst while also holding a role as the company’s engineer for multiple construction projects across Europe. After her service, she worked for a year as a renewable energy developer with projects in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Through this work, she gained a passion for understanding the dynamic relationship between people and water. This led her to pursue a MSc in Humanitarian Engineering and Science from the Colorado School of Mines where she focused her research on community engagement around building localized knowledge for water efficient practices in small-scale agriculture. Alexandria has finally landed at CSU’s CEE department to continue her research in the emerging field of sociohydrology. Alexandria’s research interests include levee system risk analysis, flood policy and management, and water resource management. In her free time, you can find Alexandria volunteering, jamming at open mics around town, and out in nature enjoying all the activities Colorado has to offer!