Joseph Scalia IV

Joseph Scalia IV is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University (CSU), affiliated with the College of Engineering. Prior to joining CSU, he worked as a senior associate at Exponent (formerly Failure Analysis Associates) in their Environmental and Earth Sciences Practice. His research focuses on geoenvironmental and geotechnical engineering, particularly the intersection of soil mechanics with contaminant hydrology, environmental engineering, and mine waste management. Scalia holds a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Bucknell University and M.S. and Ph.D. in Geological Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He leads the Geoenvironmental Lab, which addresses challenges in tailings management, unsaturated terramechanics, and barrier systems for environmental protection.

Education:

• Ph.D., Geological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2012)
• M.S., Geological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009)
• B.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bucknell University (2007)

Research interests include geotechnical stability of tailings storage facilities, hydraulic conductivity of waste materials, and innovative containment systems. His work integrates field experimentation, laboratory testing, and numerical modeling to solve environmental and geotechnical challenges. Recent studies emphasize soil moisture dynamics in mine tailings, chemico-osmotic effects in clay barriers, and polymer-enhanced geosynthetic clay liners for waste containment.

Labs/Teams:

• Geoenvironmental Lab: Focuses on tailings engineering, landfill covers, and geoenvironmental barrier systems.

Advancing barrier systems for contaminated sites and optimizing landfill cover designs are central themes. While no specific grants or awards are listed, his extensive publication record reflects sustained contributions to environmental geotechnics and mine waste management.