Faculty and Staff
Ryan Winston is an Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University with appointments in the Departments of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering and Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering at the Ohio State University. He is also a core faculty member of the Ohio State University Sustainability Institute and is a faculty member of the Environmental Science Graduate Program. Before taking a tenure-track position at OSU, Ryan was a Research Scientist (2016-2017) and a Research Assistant Professor (2017-2018) at the Ohio State University. Prior to OSU, Ryan earned his Master’s and PhD in Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University, where he worked in various capacities with Bill Hunt for nearly a decade. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Ryan’s background is primarily related to management of urban stormwater using innovative green infrastructure techniques. He has more than a decade of experience in studies of urban hydrology and pollutant fate and transport, with particular focus on urban best management practices (BMPs) – also known as stormwater control measures. He has led over 50 field monitoring projects in 5 states to understand how SCMs can provide ecosystem services, improve watershed health, reduce urban impacts on streams, improve water quality, and reduce stormwater runoff. During many of these projects, field-collected data were utilized to calibrate stormwater models, including USEPA SWMM, WINSLAMM, DRAINMOD, and others, to understand how systems function under a variety of design scenarios or under the impacts of climate change. Ryan enjoys working with stakeholders to help improve the management of stormwater in Ohio and beyond. Ryan resides in Ohio with his wife, son, two dogs, and two cats. In his spare time, Ryan enjoys spending time hiking, biking, and generally being outdoors with his family.
Post-Doctoral Researchers
None presently.
Graduate Students
Ian Simpson is a PhD student in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering at Ohio State. He received his bachelor degrees in 2018 from Ohio Northern University in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Applied Mathematics. His research focuses on how urbanized land uses affect stormwater runoff quality and quantity, in order to optimize investments in stormwater controls. He also has interest in stormwater control measures, particularly permeable pavements, as he is working on a project related to predicting their maintenance needs. Ian hopes to one day pass down his acquired knowledge to the next generation of engineers and scientists, pushing forward towards the environmental sustainability. Ian is a competitive triathlete and enjoys most outdoor activities.
Joey Smith is a Master’s student at The Ohio State 
University in the Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering (FABE) Department. A recent graduate of the FABE undergraduate program, he is working towards Master’s degrees in both Ecological Engineering and Mandarin Chinese. His research focuses on nutrients and sediment reduction associated with the Blueprint Columbus project in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. In his free time, Joey likes to go camping, do gymnastics, and play in boats.
Kathleen Fast is pursuing a PhD in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering. She received a B.S. in Geology from Hope College in Holland, MI while also studying Environmental Science and Global French Studies. Her research focus is on the treatment of stormwater runoff from marinas in the Great Lakes region through collaboration with the Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin Sea Grants. Kathleen is passionate about research that informs the use of best management practices and sustainable development. In her free time she loves running, camping, brewing kombucha, and working on her smallest biogeochemistry project; her fish tank.