Sue L. Niezgoda

Dr. Niezgoda is a Professor of Civil Engineering at Gonzaga University and a registered licensed engineer. She has an emphasis in water resources engineering and teaches and conducts research in the areas of fluid mechanics, hydraulic engineering, stream restoration, soil erosion and sediment transport, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, and uncertainty and risk assessment. Dr. Niezgoda is currently working on monitoring the effectiveness of beaver dam analogs to reduce downstream sediment loads and restoring depositional river valleys to a Stage 0 anastomosing channel network. She has also published a body of knowledge for the practice of stream restoration that can be used as a foundation for a national certification. Dr. Niezgoda is an active member of the ASCE EWRI Hydraulics and Waterways Council River Restoration Technical Committee and River Restoration Northwest, a nonprofit organization aimed at advancing the science and standards of practice of river restoration through an interdisciplinary process-based approach. 

Stream Restoration

1. Monitoring the effectiveness of Beaver Dam Analogs at storing water and sediment in watersheds and developing design guidelines for the implementation of BDAs in a variety of watershed locations
2. Identifying the current state-of-the-art in stream restoration education: Establishing a common and consistent body of knowledge.
3. Developing a monitoring and assessment framework to evaluate stream restoration needs in urbanizing watersheds
4. Determining an appropriate design discharge for snowmelt dominated streams
5. Quantifying uncertainty and risk in stream restoration design

Low Impact Development

1. Advancing permeable pavement research: Evaluation of durability, hydrologic performance, and water quality treatment effectiveness in cold climates