For UI graduate Riley Post, water has been at the forefront of his mind. Growing up in Iowa, Post witnessed major floods first-hand throughout his life. From watching his father canoe to work as a child, learning to sandbag in high school, and witnessing the destruction across the UI campus as a junior in 2008, Post’s experiences with water left a lasting impact and shaped his course of study.

After graduating in Spring of 2024, Post worked as a postdoctoral scholar with the Iowa Flood Center and Stanford University. Recently, Post moved back to the Hawkeye State on the cusp of his next endeavor.

The Iowa Flood Song

Post graduated with a PhD in Civil Engineering where he focused on water resources, or as he likes to describe it “the physics of water going downhill.” His dissertation used computer models to explore whether systems of small ponds could be used to limit flood impacts. 

Post cites growing up along the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities as a major part of his interest in flood mitigation. “I saw flooding as a big problem, and that’s what drew me to engineering. It’s just problem-solving,” he says.

While at UI, Post competed in and won the 2022 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for his research, titled “Can Little Ponds Fight Big Floods?”. This June, Post received another award for his work – the D.C. Spriestersbach Dissertation Prize – which recognizes excellence in doctoral research. 

For Post, receiving the award was a testament to the work he has done at Iowa and a way to shine a light on the research being done both in his department and the IIHR – Hydroscience and Engineering center. 

From the (Hawk’s) Nest to the (Stanford) Trees

When Post started looking at opportunities beyond graduation, he was committed to remaining in academia, with a goal to be a professor, mentor students, and start his own lab. 

“Priority number one was working with a professor who was starting their career at an institution,” he says. "I needed to learn what starting a successful research group looks like."

While attending several conferences, Post connected with Dr. Sarah Fletcher, a researcher and assistant professor at Stanford University in California. Fletcher’s research was also focused on civil engineering and water, specifically on drinking water.

“For me, a kid from Iowa, going out to Stanford felt like trying to go to the moon; it seemed like such a big lift,” Post says.

When he received an offer from Fletcher’s group, he couldn’t turn it down. Not only was he interested in Fletcher’s research, but Stanford also had the resources and support for postdocs that Post was looking for.

Preparation at UI

In Fletcher’s lab, Post’s work focused on drinking water and policy. With the addition of public policy into his work, Post was able to explore the economic impacts of drinking water including affordability and water scarcity. The ultimate goal was to design mechanisms that would ensure that households who are under financial strain are able to afford clean water, even as water becomes scarcer as a result of droughts and climate change.

During his time at UI, Post was involved in Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG), serving as the Vice President for the 2022-2023 academic year, a role which he believes helped him during his time at Stanford. 

“Before joining GPSG, I didn't realize how valuable learning to interface with elected officials would be. It was a fantastic opportunity to highlight the university and work on behalf of graduate and professional students,” Post describes. “Here, working with policy and being able to direct and influence where policy is headed, that experience is useful.”

Beyond policy, advocating for your research is another area which drew on Post’s experiences at UI, both from GPSG and the 3MT competition. Being able to sell your work to others and convince them of its importance is something Post believes only comes through practice. 

“Nobody wants to hear you recite the abstract of your dissertation. It’s too technical. You have to be able to boil it down to their base parts,” he says. 

Despite working with water, Post used the analogy of roads and stoplights during his 3MT speech. 

“Water is a public interfacing thing. Whether you want to go into policy, engineering, or consulting to help people solve their water problems, you need to be able to communicate to someone who hasn’t spent ten years studying it,” Post describes.

Post gives a lot of credit for his success in the 3MT competition to a communication coaching course in the civil engineering program. The course is designed to break down the technical jargon that is often used in this line of work. All students are required to take four semesters of the course but competing in 3MT is optional. Post describes this course as the “secret sauce” that has led to a number of civil engineering 3MT finalists over the years.

“Iowa is a special place,” he says. “As you get out and start experiencing other universities you realize exactly what makes Iowa City so great.” 

Beyond Academia

Although Post has enjoyed the last year at Stanford, he is ready for a change, this time outside of academia. During his time as a postdoctoral fellow, Post discovered that he did not enjoy everything that comes with running a lab.

“I really respect what it is to be an academic, but I did not want to always be applying for grants, putting in proposals, and wondering where the money was going to come from.”

When an opportunity opened with HDR, an engineering consulting firm in Des Moines, Post and his wife, Erin, decided to make the move back just before the holidays.

HDR tried to recruit Post during his PhD, but he was committed to academia. He told them at the time, “I need to see this academia thing through. Otherwise, I will always wonder.”

Now, HDR’s opportunity seems to be the best of both worlds. Post will be able to work on national projects from his home state. Even though he does not want to run his own lab, the pull to teaching remains strong.

“I would still love to teach at the college level. I’m really passionate about engineering, and I like to get students excited about it too.” 

Post’s commitment to water security and flood prevention will likely safeguard Iowa’s future, combining his expertise in engineering with his love for his home state.