Professor Blair Johnson
Dr. Blair Johnson performs experimental research to model turbulence-driven environmental flows. She grew up in Baltimore, MD, where annual summer trips to Ocean City, MD inspired her fascination with waves and sand. Although she originally planned to become a structural engineer, undergraduate coastal engineering research introduced her to fluid mechanics and phenomena such as turbulent diffusion and coastal erosion. Dr. Johnson completed her B.S. at Johns Hopkins University in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Structures, and a minor in Piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in 2008. Following completion of her M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University (2011), she was a visiting researcher at the Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental (IH Cantabria) in Santander, Spain, in 2012. Dr. Johnson completed her Ph.D. in Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology at Cornell University in August 2016. She worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Laboratory of Energetic Flow and Turbulence at Arizona State University from 2016 to 2017.
Graduate Students
Arefe Ghazi, Ph.D. Candidate
Arefe is studying the Mixing of desalination brine plumes in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. She studied her master’s in Sharif University of Technology working on the numerical modeling of a two-layered flow. She is interested in the fundamental environmental flow processes. In her spare time, she is busy doing puzzles and going to the gym.
Po-Chen Chen, Ph.D. Candidate
Po-Chen is interested in turbulent transport processes within the environment, such as pollutants or sediments. He obtained his B.S. and M.S. from National Taiwan University. In his spare time, he enjoys biking, playing soccer, and traveling.
Biman Kalita, Ph.D. Student – stay tuned for details!
Hiromu Koyama, M.S. Student – stay tuned for details!
Alexandra Stephens, M.S. Student – stay tuned for details!
Undergraduate Students (current)
- Ella Landau
- Kavya Shah
- Riley Ward
JETlab Alumni!
*with first job after graduation listed
** only graduate students listed
May 2019:
- Joel (Junior) Lagade, Jr., M.S., Black & Veatch
- Yongsik Kim, Ph.D. (co-supervised with Ben Hodges), K-water
December 2019:
- Luisa Florez, M.S., B.P.
- Andrew Jaeger, M.S., U.S. Coast Guard
May 2020:
- Greg Hendrickson, M.S., Ph.D. student w/ Lina Sela at UT Austin
- Hannah Knaup, M.S., Exxon
- Aubrey McCutchan, M.S., Ph.D. student in JETlab!
August 2021:
- Julio Chavez, M.S., Ph.D. student with Michelle DiBenedetto at U Washington
May 2022:
- James Holyoke, M.S., Princeton Hydro
August 2023:
- Aubrey McCutchan, Ph.D., world traveler
Join our group!
We are currently seeking M.S. and Ph.D. students to join the laboratory! It is recommended that incoming students have a background in engineering (civil, environmental, mechanical, or aerospace) or geophysics, though students from other disciplines are encouraged to apply as well. Incoming doctoral students preferably have a foundation in graduate level fluid mechanics and laboratory experience. Incoming M.S. students should come prepared with an excitement and curiosity for laboratory work in environmental fluid mechanics. All students should have a strong background in mathematics and competency in programming. If you’d like to send an email to inquire about future openings, please describe how your interests are relevant to the work happening in the lab and what your goals would be at the University of Texas.
Undergraduate students are also encouraged to assist in laboratory research, no experience necessary. Please keep in mind most of our work happens at the Pickle campus. If interested, please send an email to blairjohnson [at] utexas [dot] edu to inquire about possible positions.