Biography

Andrew has over 30 years of professional experience in Environmental and Water Resource Engineering. He has over 25 years of experience as a hydrologic & water quality modeler, emphasizing first-principles-based model development and application, over 15 years’ experience in hydrologic & environmental informatics – focusing on translating scientific principles into language readily assimilable by elected officials and other decision makers, and over 10 years of specific emphasis on flood-related issues and other hydrologic extremes. Dr. Ernest spent 4 years as the Director of the Environmental Institute at the University of Alabama, working with the NOAA National Water Center during the roll-out of the National Water Model. He currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Research, Applied Technology, Education & Service, Inc., a nonprofit corporation focusing on developing and deploying small-community affordable real-time hydrologic sensors for water resource management and flood early warning, is a former Department Head and Full Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the founder of Open Environment, PLLC, a water resource technology startup. 

Certifications 

PE / TX / 83476 

PE / KY / 24824 

D.WRE Diplomate / Water Resource Engineer / American Academy of Water Resources

Education

PhD., Texas A&M University, 1991, Civil Engineering   

M.S., University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1985, Civil Engineering  

B.S., University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1984, Civil Engineering