Franco Montalto P.E. Ph.D. | Civil/Environmental Engineer and Hydrologist
Dr. Montalto is a civil engineer interested in the development of ecologically, economically, and socially sensible solutions to urban environmental problems, with a focus on sustainable water resources engineering. His ~20 years of experience have included research and design of a variety of nature-based solutions involving ecological restoration of degraded landscapes, the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater and stormwater treatment, as well as work with “green infrastructure” and “low impact development” technologies as a means of managing urban runoff, while promoting urban sustainability and resilience. He is an Associate Professor at Drexel University, where he directs the Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Lab. He is also the Founder and President of eDesign Dynamics LLC, an environmental consulting firm based in New York City, with an international portfolio of projects. He also serves as the Director of the North American Hub of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN). Previously, he served as a Research Fellow at The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and a Fulbright Scholar in Venice, Italy. His degrees are from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and Cornell University. Dr. Montalto is a licensed engineer in New York (#090284), Pennsylvania (#PE080773), New Jersey (#24GE05353000), and Connecticut (#PEN.0030533).
Current Research Scientists and Post Docs
 Dr. Bita Alizadehtazi | Research ScientistContact: bita[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Tehran, Iran PhD: Environmental Engineering, Drexel University MS: Environmental Engineering, Drexel University BS: Shahid Beheshti University, Iran AS: Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran Research Interests: Green infrastructure design and low impact development, Sustainable water resources planning and management, Urban hydrology |
 Dr. Leena Shevade | Research ScientistContact: ljs332[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Mumbai, India PhD: Environmental Engineering, Drexel University M. Engineering: V.J.T.I., Mumbai, India Research Interests: Green Infrastructure, sustainable wastewater management |
Current Doctoral Students
 Karly Soldner | PhD StudentContact: kms487[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Lancaster, PA BS: Drexel Univerity Research Interests: Performance and monitoring of green stormwater infrastructure, sustainable and smart cities |
 Walter Yerk | PhD CandidateContact: wgy23[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Moscow, Russia BS/MS: Moscow State University, Russia Research Interests: Urban hydrology, canopy rainfall interception, distributed hydrological models, urban boundary layer, impacts of climate variability on hydrology and water resources |
Current Masters Students
 Madeleine Pelchat | Masters StudentContact: mjp437[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Wynnewood, PA BS/MS: Drexel University Research Interests: Sustainable Water Resources/Wastewater Management, Renewable Energy, Climate Policy |
 Joseph McGovern | Masters StudentContact: jm4277[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Philadelphia, PA BS: Civil Engineering, Temple University Research Interests: Sustainable and Resilient Design and Design Practice, Green Stormwater Infrastructure and Regulatory Compliance |
Field & Lab Staff
 Julian Stolper | Field EngineerContact: js4724[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Walpole, NH BS: Physics, Bates College Research Interests: Sustainable development and green infrastructure, renewable energy, instrumentation, data science |
 Korin Tangtrakul | Sustainability ManagerContact: krt73[AT]drexel.edu Home City: Ringoes, NJ MS: Pratt Institute BA: Temple University Research Interests: Co-benefits of green infrastructure, mapping & GIS, community-led planning |
Full List of Alumni
| # | Last | First | Type | Title | Year |
| 1 | Yu | Ziwen | MS | No Thesis Published | 2010 |
| 2 | Berg | Stuart | MS | No Thesis Published | 2010 |
| 3 | Goldstein | Alisha | MS | Comparison of a High and Low Spatial Resolution Model for an Urban Block and Implications for Depicting Low Impact Development | 2011 |
| 4 | Alizadehtazi | Bita | MS | Relationship between Land Cover and Infiltration Rates in Urban Landscapes | 2012 |
| 5 | Jeffers | Scott | MS | Characterization of the rainfall-runoff response of an urban combined sewer catchment using observed and analytical methods | 2012 |
| 6 | Rostad | Nathan | MS | Harvesting rooftop runoff to flush toilets: Drawing conclusions from four major U.S. cities | 2012 |
| 7 | White | Stephen | MS | No Thesis Published | 2012 |
| 8 | Sunder | Ajay | MS | Implementation of a non-parametric rainfall simulation method to size rainwater harvesting systems for stormwater management and irrigation of urban agricultural facilities | 2012 |
| 9 | DiGiovanni | Kimberly | PhD | Evapotranspiration from urban green spaces in a Northeast United States City | 2013 |
| 10 | Chen | Wei | MS | Monitoring and modeling of the hydrologic performance of the Carroll Street Right-of-Way Bioswale | 2014 |
| 11 | Miller | Stephanie | MS | Evapotranspiration Potential of Green Infrastructure Vegetation | 2014 |
| 12 | Stammermann | Ramona | PhD | Hydrodynamics and Sediment Transport Studies in Tidal Marshes of the Delaware Bay using High Resolution Numerical Models | 2014 |
| 13 | Feldman | Andrew | MS | Green Infrastructure in Urban Parks for Stormwater Management | 2015 |
| 14 | Catalano de Sousa | Maria Raquel | PhD | Assessing green infrastructure as an effective strategy to help cities to build resilience to climate change | 2015 |
| 15 | Kidd | Griffin | MS | Changing Climate in Philadelphia: Expert Elicitation of Climate Risks and Recommendations | 2015 |
| 16 | Pu | Ge | MS | Developing a Modeling Framework for Nonstationary Urban Hydraulic Analyses | 2015 |
| 17 | Yu | Ziwen | PhD | Assessment of the physical, socioeconomic and climatic constraints on green infrastructure | 2015 |
| 18 | Frazier | Lindsay | MS | The Effects of Water Table, Hydraulic Loading Ratio, and Climate Change on Constructed Wetland Stormwater Capture Performance | 2016 |
| 19 | Pronchik | Emily | MS | The Use of a Green Infrastructure Treatment Train to Capture Street Runoff : Monitored and Modeled Stormwater Capture Performance of a Three Bed Right-Of-Way Bioretention Facility | 2016 |
| 20 | Rakestraw | Emma | MS | Quantification of Stemflow in Three Isolated Shrub Species in an Urban Environment | 2016 |
| 21 | Jeffers | Scott | PhD | Using Fractal Geometries to Understand Urban Drainage Networks and Green Stormwater Infrastructure Development | 2017 |
| 22 | Miller | Stephanie | PhD | Using Multifunctional Green Infrastructure to Address Resilience in Cities | 2017 |
| 23 | Alizadehtazi | Bita | PhD | The Evolution and Significance of Soil, Soil Surface, and Soil Moisture in the Ecohydrology of Engineered Urban Green Spaces | 2017 |
| 24 | Smalls-Mantey | Lauren | PhD | The Potential Role of Green Infrastructure in the Mitigation of the Urban Heat Island | 2017 |
| 25 | Lempitsky | Ian | MS | Effectiveness of Coastal Green Infrastructure Under Compound Events Due to Climate Change | 2018 |
| 26 | Campellone | Sabatino | PhD | An Investigation into the Factors Affecting Street Tree Rainfall Interception | 2018 |
| 27 | Johnson | Katelyn | MS | Investigating the Influence of Precipitation Patterns and Soil Composition on Soil Moisture Retention in Physical Models of Green Stormwater Infrastructure | 2018 |
| 28 | Soldner | Karly | MS | Real-Time Remote Soil Moisture Monitoring for Rain Garden Irrigation Efficiency with a Low-Cost Cloud-Connected Datalogger | 2019 |
| 29 | Shevade | Leena | PhD | Predicting Street Scape Green Infrastructure Amidst Uncertain Flow | 2020 |
| 30 | Abualfaraj | Noura | Postdoc supervised 2017- 2018 | ||
| 31 | Foti | Romano | Postdoc supervised 2014-2015 | ||