Rate My Professor Denny Johnson

Dr. Dennis L. Johnson, referred to as Denny Johnson, holds the position of George "Fritz" Blechschmidt '54 Professor of Environmental Science and serves as Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering within the Natural Sciences Division at Juniata College. He joined Juniata College in fall 1999 as Assistant Professor in Environmental Science & Studies and Information Technology, advancing to Associate Professor in summer 2003. Previously, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan Technological University from fall 1997 to fall 1999. Earlier career highlights include Research Hydrologist as a UCAR Visiting Scientist with the National Weather Service Office of Hydrology Hydrologic Research Laboratory in Silver Spring, Maryland, from October 1996 to October 1997; Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at Pennsylvania State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from January to September 1996; and Instructor and Ph.D. candidate at the same department from January 1992 to December 1995. His educational background comprises a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (December 1995), M.S. in Civil Engineering (August 1992), and B.S. in Civil Engineering (May 1989) from The Pennsylvania State University, along with a B.A. in Natural Science (May 1989) from Lock Haven University via a 3-2 co-op program.

Johnson's research focuses on hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, watershed management, GIS, information technology applications, and technology in higher education. He has authored or presented more than 40 professional papers and served as Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator on funded research projects totaling approximately $350,000. Current initiatives include flash flood guidance and threshold runoff procedures, snow water equivalent estimates for the Lake Superior Basin, FEMA Cooperating Technical Partnership activities, Little Juniata River assessment, Raystown Lake and Field Station projects, Michigan Department of Transportation intensity-duration-frequency curve creation, Interstate 99 environmental monitoring, and web-based training for the National Weather Service. Past research encompasses distributed hydrologic modeling with NEXRAD precipitation, river mechanics via FLDWAV model GUI, raster-based hydrologic modeling with NASA, climate variability impacts on the Susquehanna River Basin, FERC Probable Maximum Flood guidelines evaluation, and Pennsylvania bridge scour prediction for PaDOT. As an educator, he teaches diverse courses such as Hydrology, GIS Applications to Hydrology, Hydraulic Engineering, Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Economy and Professional Practice, Senior Design Project Capstone for civil and environmental engineering students, Introduction to GIS, Principles of Information Technology, Surveying, and Water and Wastewater Collection Systems. Additionally, he develops and instructs hydrometeorology courses for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research COMET Program, including faculty training and flash flood basin customization. Johnson engages in consulting as a senior water resources engineer for Riverside Technologies Inc. and through DLJ Consulting, where he designed a public water treatment system for Porter Township, Pennsylvania, and handled flood plain redesignations and dam failure analyses. He also serves as faculty representative to the Juniata College Trustee Advancement Committee with a term ending in 2025.