Paula Rees

Paula Rees received her BS in civil engineering from the University of Iowa and her PhD in civil engineering and operations research with a focus in water resources from Princeton University. In addition, she received a certificate in science, technology, and public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton. Her research interests are in the areas of flood hydrology and hydrometeorology, water quality monitoring and modeling, water resources sustainability, and sediment transport. Rees was an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at UMass from 1999–2008. She also served as director of education and outreach for the NSF Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) from 2007–2014 and as director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center, one of 54 National Institutes of Water Resources supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, from 2007–2017. Rees was appointed director of the Diversity Programs Office for the College of Engineering in fall 2011, and assistant dean for diversity in fall 2017. She works with students, faculty and staff to make the college welcoming and inclusive for all, with a focus on recruitment and retention at all levels.