Faculty Profile
Theodore Endreny

Professor

Department of Environmental Resources Engineering
426 Baker Lab

te@esf.edu
315-470-6565

Research, Service, Teaching & Advising

Empowering others to improve the world through research, service, advising and teaching.

Research

Our research goal is to develop software tools for the restoration of natural resources and delivery of ecosystem services, and thereby improve human wellbeing and biodiversity. We lead development of the i-Tree tools research suite.  

We address questions involving how trees and landforms within the natural and developed environment: 1) interact with water, energy, and biogeochemical cycles, 2) improve sustainability and reduce pollution, 3) assist in mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate disruption, 4) are represented in land use planning software to increase community engagement, and 5) can bring about a just and equitable world.

The tasks involved in our work include multidisciplinary collaboration, literature and data synthesis, conceptual model building, algorithm and software development, and software dissemination. Issues that we model include river basin restoration, nature-based stormwater management, urban heat island mitigation, river thermal cooling, and building energy conservation.

Publications and CV at: Google Scholar | SciProfile | ORCID | Web of Science | Scopus | Research Gate | ESF Experts

Recent & illustrative publications are below:

1. Endreny, T. A. (2024). "Mapping inequities in green cooling services". Nature Cities, doi:10.1038/s44284-024-00080-2.

2. Li, Z., Mendoza, A., Abad, J. D., Endreny, T. A., Han, B., Carrisoza, E., & Dominguez, R. (2023). "High-resolution modeling of meander neck cutoffs: laboratory and field scales". Frontiers in Earth Science, 11. doi:10.3389/feart.2023.1208782

3. Zhang, L., Endreny, T. A., & Stephan, E. A. (2023). "Stochastic export coefficient model to predict annual variation in phosphorus loading from diffuse runoff". Journal of Hydrology, 620, 129447. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129447

4. Teron, L., & Endreny, T. (2023). "A convergence of climate, social justice, and infrastructure policy enables forestry to cool cities". Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 50(7), 1718-1721. doi:10.1177/23998083231195189

5. Sinha, P., Coville, R. C., Hirabayashi, S., Lim, B., Endreny, T. A., & Nowak, D. J. (2022). "Variation in estimates of heat-related mortality reduction due to tree cover in U.S. cities". Journal of Environmental Management, 301, 113751. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113751

6. Sinha, P., Coville, R. C., Hirabayashi, S., Lim, B., Endreny, T. A., & Nowak, D. J. (2021). "Modeling lives saved from extreme heat by urban tree cover." Ecological Modelling, 449, 109553. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109553

7. Endreny, T.A. (2020). Editorial "Leverage points used in a systems approach of river and river basin restoration." Special Issue: A Systems Approach of River and River Basin Restoration. Water 12(9), 2606; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092606

8. Endreny, T., C. Avignone-Rossa, and R.A. Nastro (2020). "Generating electricity with urban green infrastructure microbial fuel cells." Journal of Cleaner Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121337

9. Endreny, T., F. Sica and D. Nowak (2020). "Tree cover is unevenly distributed across cities globally, with lowest levels near highway pollution sources." Frontiers in Sustainable Cities 2(16). doi:10.3389/frsc.2020.00016

10. Kruegler, J., J. Gomez-Velez, L. K. Lautz and T. A. Endreny (2020). "Dynamic evapotranspiration alters hyporheic flow and residence times in the intrameander zone." Water 12(2). doi:10.3390/w12020424

11. Endreny, T. A. (2018). "Strategically growing the urban forest will improve our world." Nature Communications 9(1): 1160, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03622-0. Part of Forests of the Anthropocene Collection.

12. Endreny, T.A., R. Santagata*, A. Perna, C. De Stefano, R.F. Rallo, and S. Ulgiati, (2017). "Implementing and managing urban forests: a much needed conservation strategy to increase ecosystem services and urban wellbeing." Ecological Modeling, Vol. 360, 328-335, doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.07.016. Recipient of Elsevier Atlas Award | Atlas Board | Interview

Media

Heatwave mitigation and river restoration: NYS DEC Heat Wave Study | NPR WAER UHI | ABC Albany UHI | Current Cast Technology Out on a Limb for Clean Water & Trees as Stormwater Managers | NPR Academic Minute Making Rivers Swimmable, Fishable, Drinkable | Environmental Monitor In-Channel Restoration Structures | Scientia Eradicating Water Pollution Across the Globe | Review for Bullfrog Films, Reflection: A walk with water

Urban forest valuation: Christian Science Monitor, City Lab, US News & World Report, CBS News, Reuters, Science Daily,  Physics.org, Anthropocene, Yale Environment 360, Financial Tribune, Nursery Management, Economic Times of India, MongaBay | Urban forest futures: Wall Street Journal Vertical Forest Jobs for Tomorrow 

Service

Professional: NYS Governor's Upstate Flood Mitigation Task Force | Food Tank Academic Working Group | San Francisco Estuary Institute Technical Advisory Council for Healthy Watersheds and Resilient Baylands| ESF Representative for Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. | National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) New Programs Committee | AGU Water and Society Committee | Founding and Former Interim Management Committee with UNESCO's Hydrology for Environment, Life & Policy | Editorial: Editorial Board for Nature Partner Journal npj Urban Sustainability and Hydrological Processes Wiley | Advisory Board for International Journal of River Basin Management Taylor and Francis | Former Peace Corps Volunteer, Trujillo Honduras

College: ESF NAE GCSP Director | Former ERE Assessment Coordinator | Former ERE Department Chair | Former ERE Graduate Coordinator | Former ERE Undergraduate Coordinator | Former Director of the Council on Hydrologic Systems Science | Founding and Former Faculty Advisor for ESF Clubs Engineers Without Borders and Engineers for a Sustainable Society Clubs | Former Advisor for Environmental Resources Engineering Club and Habitat for Humanity Club 

Sabbaticals: Nature-based Solutions Scholar at CNR IRET in Porano, Italy 2023 | Fulbright Scholar and Distinguished Chair at  University of Parthenope in Naples, Italy & Visiting Fulbright Scholar in Portugal and Greece 2016 | Fulbright Scholar, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, 2006 

Developer: i-Tree Research Suite | Fluvial Geomorphology Training Modules for University Corporation for Atmospheric Research | NOAA Daily Weather Observer 2000 to 2016 for Cooperative SUNY ESF Station 308386, and established SUNY ESF Weather | GI Calculator 

Awards and Honors: i-Tree Innovation Award co-recipient w/ Paramita Sinha, Society of Municipal Foresters | Elsevier Atlas Award for Ecological Modeling | APWA NY Management Innovation Award for i-Tree Hydro | Distinguished Chair in Environmental Science, Parthenope University | State University of New York Chancellor’s Internationalization Award | IEEE Global Humanitarian Engineering Award Finalist | Societies: Sigma Xi Scientific Research, Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Epsilon Agricultural Engineering Society, Xi Sigma Pi Forestry, and Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society | Advisor for EWB Club, ESF Student Organization of the Year | Distinguished Teacher Award, ESF Undergraduate Student Association | NASA Graduate Student Research Program Scholar | EPA Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program Scholar

Advising and Teaching

Advising and teaching of graduate and undergraduate students. Observations archived as blogger for EREngineering | Given ESF has a research and application focus, the following links have been helpful: Effective Learning Strategies or How to Score Best on a Test | Guide to Writing Proposal | Guide to Writing Manuscript Sections | Guide to Empirical Writing | Guide to Perfectly Putrid Posters | Guide to Peer Review | Caution of a Sting on Peer Review | Ethics on Peer Review | Guide to Submitting a Manuscript |  Modeling and humility | Strategies for finding research time

River Form and Process (ERE 412, ERE612), Fall semester. Two hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week. Theories of river classification are presented and tested using field gathered data. Classified river form and suggested evolution sequences are used to discuss governing fluvial processes. Computational river hydraulics is used to estimate sediment transport, and a design sequence is employed to consider issues of channel stability and restoration.

i-Tree Tools Practicum (ERE 564), Fall semester. Three hours of lecture per week. Use i-Tree tools to complete an urban forest inventory, an assessment of associated ecosystem services, and designs for improved sustainability. Forest data are obtained from field visits and remotely sensed or archived products. Ecosystem services relate to filtering air pollution, sequestering carbon dioxide, managing stormwater with green infrastructure, mitigating the urban heat island, and improving building energy use efficiency

Meteorology (FOR 338, FOR 538), Spring semester. Three hours of lecture/discussion per week. An introduction to the atmospheric physical processes important to understanding weather and weather forecasting at the surface of the earth and macro-, synoptic-, meso-, and micro-climates.

Prior courses: Engineering Hydrology and Hydraulics with laboratory; i-Tree Tools Practicum; Humanitarian Engineering for Development Workers; Ecological Engineering in the Tropics with 9 day field study; Ecological Engineering for Urban Sustainability Undergraduate Course and Urban River Basin Modeling PhD Course for Parthenope University in Naples, Italy; Humanitarian Engineering for Development Workers; Appropriate Technologies in the Developing World; Hydrometeorology; Introduction to Environmental Resources Engineering with Site Visits; Graduate Research Methods; Pollutant Fate & Transport; Floodplain and River Hydrology; Watershed Modeling; Meteorology; Engineering Response to Climate Change; Urban and Rural Hydrology; Nonpoint Source Monitoring & Modeling; Fluvial Geomorphology Seminar; Forestry Seminar; Introduction to Environmental Science; Hydrology and Biogeochemistry Seminar.

Education

Cornell University, BS in Natural Resources, with Ford Foundation Research Experience, Ithaca, NY

North Carolina State University, MS in Soil and Water Engineering, with Environmental Protection Agency Fellowship, Raleigh, NC

Princeton University, PhD in Water Resources Engineering, with National Aeronautics and Space Agency Fellowship, Princeton, NJ

Licensure: Professional Engineer 079912 New York from July 2, 2002; Professional Hydrologist 1559 from 2002

Former Students

Abigail Jock, M.P.S. 2023 - Onondaga County Water Environment Protection | Aimee Clinkhammer, M.S. 2023 - NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Finger Lakes Hub | Abigail Beckman, M.P.S. 2022 - Ecological Restoration | Scott Wolcott, Ph.D. 2022 - Professor Rochester Institute of Technology | Francisco Sica, Visiting Ph.D. Student 2019 from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy | Reza Abdi, Ph.D. 2019 - Postdoctoral with Terri Hogue, Colorado School of Mines | Ron May, M.P.S. 2019 - Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation | Brenna Mosher, M.P.S. 2019 - Water Resources Engineering | James Kruegler, M.S. 2018 - NYS Department of Environmental Conservation | Ivo Martone, Visiting Ph.D. 2018 Student from Federico II University of Naples, Italy | Ryan Morrison, M.P.S. 2017 - NYC Parks | Emily Stephan, Ph.D. 2017 - NOAA Hydrologist New York Office | Ethan Bodnaruk, DNF Ph.D. 2016 - co-Advised with Dr. C Kroll, converted to M.S. Degree | Kaitlin Fellow, M.P.S. 2016 - Water Resources Management | Maria Laura Gonzalez, M.S., 2016 - Water Resources Engineering Advisor in Argentina | Yong (Peter) Seuk Kwon, M.P.S., 2016 - Water Reources Engineering in South Korea | Remo Santagata, Visiting Ph.D. Student 2016 from Parthenope University of Naples, Italy | Mirian Calderon, M.S. 2015 - Ecosystem Restoration in Argentina | Andrea Fortman, M.S. 2015 - Water Resources Engineer Consulting | Harini Kadambi, M.P.S. 2015 - Biogas Production and Energy Systems Engineering | Angela Stires, M.S. 2015 - Ecological and Water Resources Engineering Consulting | Kritika Thapa, M.S. 2015 - Water Resources Engineering Consulting | Brenden Wagner, ABT 2015 - River Restoration in Water and Wetland Resource Studies | Chao Pei, M.P.S., 2014 - Water and Wetland Resources Studies, Boston | Hanh Chu, M.S. 2013 - Environmental Professional, Springfield, MA | Yang Yang, Ph.D. 2013 - Risk Management Solutions inland flood model development | Joe Becker, M.S. 2012 - Guy Carpenter flood risk management | Mike Fay, M.S. 2012 - Water Resources Engineer & Laboratory Flume Consulting | Bangshuai Han, Ph.D. 2012 - Associate Professor Ball State University | Jesse Robinson, M.S. 2012 - Stream Institute, U of Louiville, KY | Tian Zhou, Ph.D. 2012 - Land System Modeling at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Dave Eichorn, M.S. 2011 - Meteorologist | Bethany Jeffords, M.P.S. 2011 - Environmental Consultant | Melody Scalfone, M.P.S. 2011 - Attorney at Law, Environmental | Kyle Thomas, ABD 2011 - Principal, Natural Systems Engineering, Syracuse, NY | Shriya Kulkarni, M.P.S. 2010 - CSR Consultant, Godrej and Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd | Jamie Ong Leong, M.P.S. 2009 - GPES and Maxwell School - Hazen Sawyer Engineers | Mark Fabian, M.S., 2009 - Watershed Engineer | Shan Khan, M.P.S. 2009 - Wastwater Consulting in NYC, now Peace Corps Volunteer Peru | Nana Imbeah Amponsah, M.S. 2008 - External Relations and Operations Manager, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Ghana | Jill Crispell, M.S. 2008 - Consulting Engineer Anchor QEA in NJ, now Earth Science Teacher in NYS | Yolande Munzimi, M.P.S. 2007 - Democratic Republic of Congo Ministry Official | Virginia Collins Williams, A.B.D. 2007 - Science Teacher | Michael Chimaliza, M.P.S. 2006 - Government Water Department in Malawi | Jessica Black, M.S. 2005 - Construction Engineer, Arcadis | Emera Bridger, A.B.T. 2005 - Anthropologist | Amanda Davis, M.P.S. 2005 - Agency restoration projects in MA | Margaret Soulman, M.S. (w/ Jim Hassett) 2005 - Waterhed NGO Management | Rachel Bonczyk, M.P.S. 2004 - Research and Development, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi | Megan McCone, M.P.S. 2004 - State Department of Environmental Conservation | Todd McDonnell, M.P.S. 2004 - Consulting river scientist/engineer in Corvallis | Tim Riley, M.S. 2004 - Consulting scientist/engineer | Janet Tordisillas, M.P.S. 2004 - Government Water Board in Phillipines | Jun Wang, Ph.D. 2004 - US Burea of Reclamation watershed modeler | Jon Duncan, M.S., M.P.A. 2003 - Assistant Professor Penn State | Juliaty Sopacua, M.S. 2003 - consulting | Steve Wolosoff, M.P.S. 2003 - Consulting scientist/engineer at CDM | Bryan Bancroft, M.P.S. 2002 - Consulting forester | Darin DeKoskie, M.S. 2002 - Bureau of Engineering, Design & Construction, NYC DEP | Tom Pavlesich, M.P.S. 2002 - Consulting with Forest Industry | Chris Somerlot, M.S. 2002 - Senior Engineer at Brown and Caldwell.

Research Links

Urban Heat Island (UHI) mapping temperature: NOAA | e360 | NPR | Shandas Portland | Shandas Baltimore, Richmond, DC | Global Surface UHI Explorer | InVEST | Migration | NUCFAC Maps

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