Bio: Joseph Webb

My name is Joe Webb.  I am a 27 year old graduate student in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Houston, Texas.  My graduate thesis research centers around retrofitting culverts while taking into account biological effects, namely the passage of fish through these stream crossings.  The emphasis of my studies over the past 2 years has been culvert hydraulics and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about this subject. I understand very little Spanish, and speak even less, though I love to try new words and phrases every chance I get. I absolutely love to travel, having visited Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America in addition to my participation in this program last year. I have been married to my wife, Steffany for 3½ years. We love soccer, mountain biking, camping, hiking and cooking (though, admittedly, neither of us is very good at cooking).

I believe that my greatest strengths as they relate to this project are three-fold:  I have an advanced understanding of hydraulics and hydrology, I have participated in the program before and I am eager to immerse myself in other cultures and try to understand and appreciate their similarities and differences from my culture.  I believe that my greatest weakness with respect to this project is my inability to communicate effectively in the Spanish language.  I hope that this weakness will become less and less pronounced as this project continues.