Celso Castro Bolinaga

Asst Professor

  • 919-515-6712
  • Weaver Administration Bldg 100

Dr. Castro-Bolinaga received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech, where he was part of the Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory. He completed his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) in Caracas, Venezuela. Before coming to the United States, Dr. Castro-Bolinaga worked for nearly two years as a hydraulic project engineer in a private consulting firm. During this period, he was involved in a variety of projects, such as evaluating the hydraulic capacity and operation of agricultural irrigation canals and developing flood inundations maps. Dr. Castro-Bolinaga joined the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering in November of 2016 as an assistant professor.

Education

Ph.D. 2016

Civil Engineering

Virginia Tech

M.S. 2012

Civil Engineering

Virginia Tech

B.S. 2009

Civil Engineering

Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) Caracas, Venezuela

Research Description

The Fluvial Hydraulics and Sediment Dynamics Research Group led by Dr. Celso Castro-Bolinaga studies phenomena related to the hydrodynamics and morphodynamics of streams and rivers. We focus on processes that are governed by the dynamics of water, sediment, and contaminant transport through waterways and floodplains. Our research aims to provide a better understanding of how the spatial and temporal scales associated with such processes control hydro-geo-environmental regimes in streams and rivers, and ultimately the adaptation capacity of these natural systems to external drivers (e.g., climate and hydraulic works). Fundamentally, our research philosophy is centered on examining basic governing mechanisms and developing innovative (computational, field, or analytical) solutions to high-impact, practical and theoretical engineering applications. Areas of interest include environmental fluid mechanics, propagation of sediment pulses in river corridors, computational fluid dynamics, sediment transport and bank erosion in stream restoration, transport of coarse- and fine-grained sediment, bio-geomorphology, and predictability and risk assessment of extreme hydrologic events.

Grants

Improved Understanding of Sediment Dynamics for the Rachel Carson Reserve, North Carolina
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)(10/01/22 - 9/30/23)
Bank Erosion and Sediment Transport in Stream Restoration: A Process-Based Framework for the North Carolina Piedmont Region
NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)(2/02/22 - 11/01/22)
Unraveling the effects of grain size and moisture content on the linearity of cohesive soil erosion: Implications for predicting streambank retreat (Alexis Swanson)
NCSU WRRI Storm Water Consortium (SWC)(3/01/21 - 5/31/22)
NRI: INT: Towards the Development of a Customizable Fleet of Autonomous Co-Robots for Advancing Aquaculture Production
National Science Foundation (NSF)(11/01/20 - 10/31/24)
Evaluation of 2D Hydraulics Models to Improve Scour Predictions and Countermeasures
NC Department of Transportation(8/01/19 - 10/01/22)
Bank Erosion and Sediment Transport in Stream Restoration: A Process-Based Framework for the North Carolina Piedmont Region
NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)(6/01/18 - 5/31/22)
Collaborative Research: Geotechnical Investigation of Bivalve-Sediment Interaction with regard to Bivalve Farms as a Self-sustained Scour Mitigation Method
National Science Foundation (NSF)(8/15/18 - 7/31/22)