Michel Boufadel, PhD, a notable voice in the investigation of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and BP’s Deep Water Horizon (DWH) blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, was recently appointed to the faculty of NJIT’s Newark College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  He will also direct the NJIT Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection. 

Boufadel is an expert in the field of oil spill research and currently serves on the National Research Committee studying the DWH Blow-Out.  He was formerly a professor at Temple University, chairing its department of civil and environmental engineering plus directing the Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection.

A Professional Engineer and Professional Hydrologist (accredited by the American Institute of Hydrology), Boufadel  is a familiar face at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where he currently serves on the EPA Science Advisory Board for natural gas extraction from shale formations.

Boufadel’s projects include floodplain delineation for FEMA and checking contamination in urban streams.  He was involved in the response to the DWH blowout and has received funding from the Unified Command to evaluate oil biodegradation in the Gulf of Mexico beaches following the blowout.  The findings of that project can be found in the Report of the Operation Science Advisory Team, which he co-authored.  He was the report’s only academic.

Boufadel has more than 80 refereed articles in publications such as Nature, Geosciences, Environmental Science and Technology, and the Marine Pollution Bulletin. He also has more than 30 publications in oil spill conference proceedings including the International Oil Spill Conference and the Arctic and Marine Oil Spill Conference.

Last update:  January 15, 2013