Louisiana Tech Faculty Information Page

Nelson, James D., Ph.D., P.E.

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Professor of Civil Engineering
Howson Professor

Degrees

PhD-Agricultural Engineering: Colorado State University - 1980
MS-Agricultural Engineering: Louisiana Tech University - 1977
BS-Agricultural Engineering: Louisiana Tech University - 1975

Contact Info

Office: 217 Bogard Hall
Email: jdn@latech.edu
Phone: (318) 257-2842
Home Page: None

Areas of Specialization

• Hydrology
• Groundwater
• Water quality
• Statistics in water resources
• Modeling
• Engineering education

Research Areas/Interests

• Groundwater remediation techniques (particularly air-sparging)
• Groundwater and contaminant transport modeling
• Engineering education reform
• Statistical analysis of water quality

Publications

• Plummer, C. R., J. D. Nelson, and G. S. Zumwalt. 1997.. Comparison of vertical and horizontal wells for in-situ air sparging. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation.  Accepted for Publication, Feb. 1997.
• Nelson, J. D., G. S. Zumwalt, and A. Krishna. 1996. The distribution of air in a sparging cone of influence. Presented at the First International Symposium on In-Situ Air Sparging for Site Remediation, Las Vegas, NV, Oct 22-27.
• Hodges, S.L., M.McCurdy, D.M. Griffin and J.D. Nelson. 1995. The desorption of copper from clay sediments in a natural water system. Presented at the Louisiana Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting, Ruston, LA. Feb. 2,3.
• Zumwalt, G.S., J.D. Nelson, and R. Plummer. 1995. Air dispersal during in situ air sparging for ground water remediation. Presented at the Louisiana Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting, Ruston, LA. Feb. 2,3.
• Hodges, S.L., D.M. Griffin, M. McCurdy, and J.D. Nelson. 1994. The desorption of copper from sodium montmorionite. p. 252. In Agronomy abstracts. ASA, Madison, WI..
• Cheng, L., D.M. Griffin, and J.D. Nelson. 1994. Bacterial density changes upstream and downstream of a sludge disposal facility. ASCE Journal of the Environmental Engineering Division. Vol 120, No. 1. pp. 138-153.
• Nelson, J.D. 1993. Supplemental instruction: Improving the performance of engineering students in math and chemistry classes. ASEE 1993 Annual Conference Proceedings. pp 203-206. Urbana, IL.
• Nelson, J.D. 1993. Restructuring engineering courses to support group learning. Presented at the 1993 Southwest Region ASEE meeting, Austin Tx.
• Nelson, J.D. and Linda Griffin. 1992. Are we attracting the "right" students into engineering? Presented at the 1992 summer ASEE meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico. March 15-17.
• Nelson, J.D., M.K. Ogle, R.O. Warrington. 1992. Engineering orientation: an introduction to creativity in engineering. ASEE 1992 Annual Conference Proceedings, pp. 97-100. Toledo, Ohio, June 21-24.
• Cheng, L., D.M. Griffin, and J.D. Nelson. 1992. Bacterial densities at a sludge disposal facility. Presented at the 1992 ASAE summer meeting, June 21-24, Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Nelson, J.D. 1992. Engineering education in the United States. An invited presentation at the US-USSR Forum for Cooperative Research and Education, St. Petersburg, Russia.
• Cheng, L., B. Buras, JD. Nelson, and D.M. Griffin. 1992. Bacterial density changes upstream and downstream of a hay-producing, sludge disposal facility. Presented at the Sixth International Drainage Symposium, December, Nashville, Tennessee
• Wallace, D., D.M. Griffin, J.D. Nelson. 1991. Effective management of large water-quality data sets. Presented at the 1991 AWRA Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana.
• McWreath, H,J. D. Nelson, D. Fitzpatrick, 1991. Simulated response to pumping stresses in the Sparta Aquifer, Northern Louisiana and Southern Arkansas. U.S. Geological Survey and LaDOTD, Water Resources Technical Report No. 51.
• Chambless, M. D. and J. D. Nelson. 1990. Irrigation pumping plant performance testing in Louisiana. Final Report submitted to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Agreement No. 21650-89-10, July.
• Griffin, D.M., J.D. Nelson, J.P. Marion, 1990. Mathematics and engineering: An attempt to provide perspective to lower division engineering students. Paper presented at the 1990 ASEE meeting, Toronto, Canada, June 26-29.
• Chambless, M., J. D. Nelson, and W.A. hadden. 1990. Irrigation pumping plant efficiencies in Louisiana. ASAE paper No. 902002 presented at the 1990 summer ASAE meeting, Columbus, Ohio.