Dr. Joseph Scalia IV

Expertise: Tailings and Mine Waste, Environmental Containment Systems, Groundwater Stewardship

Dr. Scalia is an Associate Professor in the Department ofCivil & Environmental Engineering at Colorado StateUniversity (CSU) specializing in tailings and mine waste research and education. He is a faculty advisor for the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) at CSU Student Chapter, a member of the SME Tailings andWaste Committee, a member of the SME Tailings Workforce Ad-Hoc Committee, and chair of the SME Filtered Tailings Working Group. He is also a member of theGeo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and a voting member of the ASTM D18 (Soil andRock) and D35 (Geosynthetics) Subcommittees. He serves the Site Director at CSU for the Tailings Center. Scalia’s research focuses on the application of environmental geotechnics to geotechnical and hydro technical engineering problems. He has published more than 50 refereed articles. 

His research interests include geotechnical and geochemical stability of filtered tailings and co-disposed waste rock and tailings, advancing water-balance covers and enhanced bentonite barriers, coupled geochemical and geotechnical processes, IoT based monitoring, tailings education. Scalia teaches courses introducing undergraduates to geotechnical engineering, and teaches graduate courses in environmental containment systems, unsaturated soils, soil behavior, contaminant transport, and engineering communication.In 2021 he received theRobert and Mitchell Landreth Steward of the Environment Award and the CSU Civil & Environmental Engineering Outstanding AcademicPerformance Award. Prior to joining CSU, Scalia worked as a Senior Associate in the Environmental & Earth Sciences Practice at Exponent.

B.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University

M.S., Geological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ph.D., Geological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison