Faculty & Staff
Stephen H. Schoenholtz
Director of the Water Center and Professor of Forest Hydrology and Soils, Department of Forestry
210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 0711 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: stephen.schoenholtz@vt.edu
Research Website
Stephen H. Schoenholtz,
Director
Stephen H. Schoenholtz is the director of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center and professor of forest hydrology and soils in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech. He has also served on faculties in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University and the College of Forest Resources at Mississippi State University.
His teaching and research interests involve interactions between land management and water and soil resources. He has Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in forest soil science from Virginia Tech and B.S. degrees in forest science and biology from the Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Schoenholtz is a member of the Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, American Water Resources Association, Society of American Foresters, Society of Wetland Scientists, and Universities Council on Water Resources.
Tamim Younos
Tamim Younos,
Associate Director
Associate Director of the Water Center and Research Professor of Water Resources, Department of Geography
210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 8039 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: tyounos@vt.edu
Dr. Tamim Younos is the Water Center's associate director and research professor in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech. He earned a doctoral degree in environmental engineering from the University of Tokyo.
His research interests include watershed assessments, drinking water systems, and the water-energy nexus. He has been a principal investigator for nearly 40 research projects and has authored or co-authored more than 140 publications, and has edited two books.
Dr. Younos served on the Board of Directors for the American Water Resources Association (2005-2007). He is the past president of the Universities Council on Water Resources, and represents academia on the National Water Quality Monitoring Council.
Kevin J. McGuire
Research Assistant Professor of Forest Hydrology
210-B Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 6017 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: kevin.mcguire@vt.edu
Research Website
Kevin J. McGuire,
Research Assistant Professor
Kevin J. McGuire is a research assistant professor of forest hydrology at Virginia Tech in the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. He holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, supported by the College of Natural Resources and the Virginia Department of Forestry in Charlottesville.
His research interests focus on watershed management and forest hydrology, runoff generation processes, tracer and isotope applications in hydrology, and land use and climate change effects on water resources. He has a PhD degree in Forest Engineering from Oregon State, a M.S. degree in Forest Resources from Penn State and a B.S. degree in Environmental Science from Susquehanna University.
Dr. McGuire has taught graduate courses at Plymouth State, Oregon State and Penn State in the areas of hydrology and watershed management. He is a member of the American Water Resources Association, American Geophysical Union, International Association for Hydrological Sciences, and Hubbard Brook LTER Committee of Scientists.
Sheila F. Christopher
Sheila F. Christopher,
Research Scientist
Research Scientist
210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 6616 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: sheila.christopher@vt.edu
Sheila F. Christopher is a Research Scientist at Virginia Tech in the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. Her research interests are in examining linkages between terrestrial soil solute cycling and hydrologic solute transport through watersheds and how these processes are affected by increased anthropogenic emissions, global climate change, and other disturbance.
She has PhD in Environmental and Forest Biology from State University of NY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a B.S. in Biology from Allegheny College.
Before coming to Virginia Tech, Dr. Christopher completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Hokkaido, Japan and field research at The Ohio State University and Buffalo State College. At VWRRC, she will create a predictive hydrologic model that can be used to assess water quality and quantity effects of integrating swtichgrass in pine plantations. She is a member of American Geophysical Union and Soil Science Society of America.
Alan Raflo
Research Associate
210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 5463 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: araflo@vt.edu
Alan Raflo,
Research Associate
Alan Raflo is a research associate with the Water Center. He edits Virginia Water Central, a newsletter on water issues in Virginia, and coordinates Virginia Service Training for Environmental Progress (Va. STEP), a water-related service-learning program for college students.
Mr. Raflo received a B.S. degree in Economic Biology from Clemson University in 1979 and a M.S. degree in Water Resources (limnology concentration) from Iowa State University in 1988. He also attended Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., to become certified to teach high school biology.
Prior to joining the Virginia Water Center in 1997, Mr. Raflo had previously worked as an educator for a natural history museum, an editor of agricultural economics publications, a water-resource planner, an aquatic biologist, and a science teacher for grades K-8.
Jane Walker
Research Associate
210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 4159 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: janewalk@vt.edu
Ms. Walker is a research associate with the Water Center. She is currently working with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to develop the Virginia Stormwater Best Management Practices Clearinghouse, a publicly accessible website that will serve as the Commonwealth of Virginia’s reference site for stormwater best management practices (BMPs).
She also serves as the administrative assistant to the Virginia Water Monitoring Council, an organization that promotes collaboration and information sharing among water monitors and water-monitoring data users in the state.
Ms. Walker holds a B.S. degree in biology with a minor in biochemistry from James Madison University and has a M.S. degree in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.
Inga Solberg
Fiscal Officer
210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 8031 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: ingasol@vt.edu
Ms. Solberg is the center's fiscal manager and primary contact for all matters of a fiscal nature. She handles the Water Center's day-to-day fiscal operation and grant administration. Ms. Solberg has been with the center since 1983.
Patrick Fay
Communications Manager
210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231 5624 | Fax: (540) 231 6673
Email: pfay08@vt.edu
Patrick Fay,
Communications Manager
As communications manager, Patrick Fay is responsible for development and implementation of the Water Center’s comprehensive communications plan that reflects its strategic purpose. He is also responsible for the group's marketing program, online communications, information campaigns, and news writing.
Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, he served as art director and senior artist for a Lewisburg, WV based full-service advertising firm; assistant director of academic advising for Liberty University's distance learning program; co-founder and resource partner of a non-profit communications organization; creative designer for a Lynchburg, VA based marketing and brand building agency; and a professional freelance photographer.
Fay received his bachelor's degree in communications and master's degree in business administration from Liberty University.