Scott Wells

Dr. Wells research areas are in modeling of environmental fluid mechanics: surface water quality and hydrodynamics and solid-liquid separation processes. He has written over 150 technical publications, is co-developer of the water quality and hydrodynamic model CE-QUAL-W2 (2D model applied to reservoirs, lakes, estuaries, and river systems), and has modeled or peer-reviewed almost 200 surface water bodies in the US and abroad. He regularly teaches classes and workshops in water quality and hydrodynamic modeling. He has presented EPA sponsored webinars to national and international audiences on the Impact of Sediments on Water Quality and CE-QUAL-W2, was an invited participant to EPA Region 6 workshop on water quality modeling, and was selected by EPA to serve on the Cayuga Lake Technical TMDL Review Team. He has been an invited seminar speaker and keynote speaker at conferences in the US and abroad and is a Principal Investigator for the Collaborative Center for Geo-hazards and Eco-Environment in Three Gorges Area, Three Gorges University, Yichang, China. In 2019, he served as Science Advisor for PBS Nova Special “Saving the Dead Sea”. Locally in Portland in 2020, 189 attended his Science Pub lecture at the McMenamin’s Lincoln School on ‘Is the Dead Sea Dying?’

Research Interest and Expertise

• Surface water quality and hydrodynamic modeling
• Solid-liquid separation by filtration and gravity sedimentation
• Development of CE-QUAL-W2 water quality and hydrodynamic model: including cyanobacteria - migration and toxicity, zooplankton migration, fish migration, Hg modeling

Courses Taught

• CE 371 Environmental Engineering
• CE 572 / 672 Environmental Fluid Mechanical Transport
• CE 573 / 673 Numerical Methods in Environmental & Water Resources Engineering
• CE 576 / 676 Environmental Fluid Mechanics 
• CE 578 / 678 Water Quality Modeling

Research Archives

• Google Scholar
• PDX Scholar
• Research Gate