Staff
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Steven W.H. Hoagland, PhD |
Dr. Steven Hoagland is a Research Assistant Professor with the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he has been employed since April 2022. Dr. Hoagland manages the Center’s technical assistance (TA) and training program, which consists of four federally funded projects including the Appalachian Community Technical Assistance and Training (ACTAT) project (funded by USDA), a TA project for small and rural wastewater systems in Tennessee (funded by USEPA), a workforce opportunity for rural communities (WORC) project (funded by USDOL), and a hydraulic modeling-focused TA project for small water systems (funded by USEPA through the Southwest Environmental Finance Center). Through these TA projects, Dr. Hoagland has conducted numerous training workshops in Tennessee for water and wastewater systems on the subjects of sustainable utility management and asset management, and has assisted utilities with digital system mapping, asset management plan development, and hydraulic modeling. Dr. Hoagland also has prior work experience as a Civil Engineer for Tetra Tech (January 2016 – October 2018), where he contributed to a variety of projects including civil-site design and construction, environmental monitoring, hydraulic modeling, and municipal stormwater program management. |
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Tyler Claxton, PE |
Tyler Claxton is a Research Associate within the TN Water Resources Research Center’s technical assistance and training program. Tyler joined the team in August 2026 after eight years of consulting experience in stormwater engineering (Thomas & Hutton, June 2018 – January 2019) and water/wastewater engineering (Ardurra, formerly Fulghum, MacIndoe & Associates, February 2019 – August 2026). His consulting experience primarily included distribution and collection design, GIS database development, and distribution and collection system modeling. Currently, he is pursuing a doctorate in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Water Resources at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. |
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Zach Dorminey |
Zach is a Research Associate at TNWRRC. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from West Virginia University and a MS in Geography from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. His research interests include water resource monitoring, environmental impacts of land cover/land use change, as well as methodologies related to inventorying and modeling of natural resources. |
Affiliated Faculty
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John S. Schwartz, PhD, PE
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Dr. John Schwartz is a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is also the director of the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center, the state’s USGS National Institute of Water Resources (NIWR) center. John started at the University of Tennessee in 2003 as an assistant professor being promoted to full professor in 2015. Previous appointments include postdoctoral research position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2002-2003. Professional experience related to wastewater utilities include: Project Engineer/Manager at HGE, Inc. in Coos Bay, Oregon serving as consultants small rural community utilities (1992-1998); Environmental Engineer at Parametrix Inc. in Portland Oregon (1991-1992); Environmental Engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VI Water Quality Division, NPDES Compliance; Dallas, Texas (1986-1987); and Project Engineer, U.S. Peace Corps; Kenya Ministry of Water Development, South Nyanza District Office; Homa Bay, Kenya (1983-1985). Currently, as the water center director, Dr. Schwartz oversees three technical assistance projects for Tennessee water and wastewater utilities including the Appalachian Community Technical Assistance and Training Program, a workforce opportunities for rural communities project, and a small and rural wastewater systems technical assistance project. |
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Qiang He, PhD |
Dr. Qiang He is a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Previous appointments include postdoctoral research fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2003-2005) and assistant professor of environmental engineering at Temple University (2005-2007). He has more than 20 years of teaching and research experience in wastewater treatment, resource recovery from waste materials, and water quality control. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and owns two patents on beneficial waste reuse. Dr. He served as the editor of an ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication: Geoenvironmental Engineering and Geotechnics: Progress in Modeling and Applications (2010). He has been serving as an associate editor for the journal BMC Microbiology (2014-present). Dr. He is also involved in projects providing technical assistance to rural wastewater systems in East Tennessee. |
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Hannah Laymon |
Hannah Laymon is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering and has taken classes in Water Resources, Engineering Approaches to Sustainability, Bio-thermodynamics, and Environmental Engineering Fundamentals. Hannah has been employed at the Water Center since May 2025 and has worked on developing GIS maps, asset management plans, and hydraulic models for small water and wastewater utilities. She is passionate about water and land conservation and aims to contribute to a more sustainable infrastructure. Upon completing her undergraduate work, Hannah plans to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (F.E.) Exam and work towards obtaining her Professional Engineer (P.E.) license. |
Miles McReynolds |
Miles McReynolds is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Miles worked for the Water Center from May 2025 to May 2026 and plans to continue working this academic year on technical assistance and training projects for small water and wastewater utilities. Interested in major infrastructure projects and GIS, he plans on focusing his studies in Water Resources and Transportation Engineering. After completing his undergraduate work, Miles plans on continuing his education by completing a master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering or Transportation Engineering. |
Former (Graduated) Students
Celia M. Jackson, M.S. (2025) |
Celia Jackson earned her master’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2025. During her time as a GRA, Celia worked with Dr. Steven Hoagland at the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center to develop GIS training modules, which will be used in introductory GIS workshops for Tennessee’s water and wastewater utilities. |
Enoch Zhang, M.S. (2025) |
Enoch Zhang earned his master’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2025. During his time as a GRA, Enoch worked with Dr. Steven Hoagland at the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center to develop preliminary (uncalibrated) hydraulic models for small water systems. |
Katherine (Kate) L. Ermer, B.S. (2026) |
Kate Ermer earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2026. During her time with the Water Center, Kate worked on geographic information systems (GIS) mapping, analysis and presentation of survey data, and development of asset management plans for rural utilities. |