R. Edward Beighley
Professor and Associate Chair for Faculty, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Affiliated Faculty, Marine and Environmental Sciences
Office
- 427 Snell Engineering Center
- 617.373.3368
Related Links
Research Focus
Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling; remote sensing of the hydrologic cycle; hydrologic impacts of climate and/or land use change; flood hazard and risk assessment
Education
- Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, 2001
- M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 1996
- B.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 1995
Honors & Awards
- 2019 Fostering Engineering Innovation in Education Award
- 2017 COE Faculty Fellow
- 2014 selected as U.S. Hydrology Applications Lead for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Satellite Mission
- 2013 Team Award for advancing worldwide understand of flood hazards, FM Global, Research Division
- 2009 San Diego State University President’s Top-25 Award for excellent contributions to the University
- 2006 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, New Investigator Award in Earth-Sun System Science
- SPIE Defense and Commercial Sensing Rising Researcher
Professional Affiliations
- American Geophysical Union
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Environmental and Water Resources Institute
Research Overview
Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling; remote sensing of the hydrologic cycle; hydrologic impacts of climate and/or land use change; flood hazard and risk assessment
The Beighley Lab
Our work links remote sensing, hydrologic modeling, and field work, in order to study the storage, fluxes, and changing quality of the earth’s terrestrial waters. We work at a local, regional, and global scale in order to understand and address anthropogenic eutrophication, assess flood risks, and model the impact of changes in land use and climate. The goal of our work is to support the sustainable and resilient management of water resources and wet infrastructure.
Selected Research Projects
- Evaluating Patterns and Controls on Microplastic Accumulation in Floodplains
- – co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Global River Baseflows Derived from GRACE/GRACE-FO
- – Principal Investigator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, GARCE-FO Science Team
- Collaborative Research: Re-evaluating Precipitation Extremes and Flood Hazard in the Wake of Hurricane Harvey
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Integrating Lateral Contributions and Longitudinal Controls Along River Reaches to Improve SWOT Discharge Estimates
- – Principal Investigator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, SWOT Science Team
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- E. O’Loughlin, J. Neal, G.J.P. Schumann, E. Beighley, P.D. Bates, A LISFLOOD-FP Hydraulic Model of the Middle Reach of the Congo, Journal of Hydrology, 24, 2020, 2253–2267
- Feng, R.E. Beighley, Identifying Uncertainties in Simulated Streamflow from Hydrologic Model Components for Climate Change Impact Assessments, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 24, 2020, 2253–2267
- Hossain, M. Bonnema, M. Srinivasan, E. Beighley, et al. The Early Adopter Program for the Surface Water Ocean Topography Satellite Mission: Lessons Learned in Building User Engagement during the Pre-launch Era, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 101(3), 2020, E259–E264
Dec 17, 2022
First-Ever Global Survey of Earth’s Surface Water
NASA has launched a Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite that will support global water applications led by CEE Professor Edward Beighley. Launched on December 16, 2022, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite will, for the first time, simultaneously measure elevations and extents of the Earth’s surface waters at high resolution. The […]
Oct 14, 2022
PhD Spotlight: Sadia Khan, PhD’22 – Civil and Environmental Engineering
Originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sadia Khan graduated from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and served as a lecturer at the University of Asia Pacific in Dhaka. She joined the civil and environmental engineering PhD program at Northeastern in 2017. Under the guidance of Professor Edward Beighley, civil […]
Jul 14, 2022
Investigating the Accumulation of Microplastics in the Environment
MES/CEE Assistant Professor Samuel Munoz, CEE Professor Edward Beighley, and MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins were awarded a $530K NSF grant for “Evaluating Patterns and Controls on Microplastic Accumulation in Floodplains.”
Oct 01, 2021
PhD Spotlight: Cassie Nickles, PhD’21 – Civil Engineering
Cassie Nickles’ research focused on large-scale river networks and hydrologic applications enabled by NASA’s upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. In the four years of her PhD, she published four articles in top journals: Remote Sensing, Water Resources Research, and Geophysical Research Letters. She also presented her findings at ten conferences, nationally and internationally. From connections made at these conferences, she had the opportunity to intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the summer of 2020.
Apr 20, 2021
FY22 TIER 1 Award Recipients
Congratulations to the 17 COE faculty and affiliates who were recipients of FY22 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 11 different projects.
Feb 25, 2021
Improving Flood Monitoring Methods
ECE Assistant Professor Pau Closas, Professor Deniz Erdogmus, CEE Professor Edward Beighley, and ECE Postdoc Tales Imbiriba were awarded a $98K grant from the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration for “Spaceborne Multispectral Image Fusion for Water Mapping and Flood Management”.
Jul 20, 2020
Floating Wetlands: Cleaning Up the Charles River
CEE PhD student Max Rome, his advisor Professor Ed Beighley, and the Charles River Conservancy created about 700 square feet of man-made wetland floats near the Longfellow Bridge to provide shelter to algae-eating zooplankton which can prevent algae bloom.
May 07, 2019
CEE PhD Students Receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
Two Northeastern Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD students, Cassandra Nickles and Katherine Vilardi, received 2019 Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This highly prestigious and selective program has historically awarded only 10% of applicants. According to the NSF, “Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations […]
Apr 29, 2019
Faculty and Staff Awards 2019
Congratulations to all the winners of the faculty and staff awards, and to everyone for their hard work and dedication during the 2018-2019 academic school year. See Photo Gallery Faculty Fellow Matthew Eckelman, CEE Yongmin Liu, MIE Outstanding Teacher of First Year Engineering Students Joseph Depasquale, Chemistry Brian O’Connell, FYE Sumi Seo, Mathematics Matthew Webber, […]
Dec 06, 2018
Improving an Integral Boston Feature – The Charles River
Max Rome, PhD in Civil Engineering ’21, recently led a team of four who were awarded a grant from the inaugural Sasaki Foundation Design Awards.