Get to know Nate
Please describe the UPP-funded or affiliated project(s) you worked on.
Developing Tools and Workflows for Acoustic Unattended Monitoring of River Bedload
Who are your USGS supervisor and PSU advisor?
James White and David Burnett
Provide a link to your project website, publication, or presentation (if applicable).
Riverine Background Acoustic Analysis
Signal Processing of Ecologically Significant Signals for Transient Bedload Characterization
What were your primary responsibilities/roles of your position?
I focused primarily on signal processing and applying machine learning techniques to hydrophone recordings for characterizing expected riverine-based acoustics and determining the sizes and quantities of sediment in transport.
What did you learn from this experience? What skills did you gain from your research experience?
The biggest thing I learned from this experience is just how big the water science research community is. Before starting I had no prior exposure to water science, let alone how many different disciplines are involved in the collective body of work, so it's exciting to see the amount of people that are interested and working hard on addressing these important issues.
What aspects of your project did you enjoy the most?
What I enjoyed most about this project is the unique challenge associated with monitoring bedload transport, and trying to do so from the acoustics generated from the micro collisions that occur between sediment in motion.
What are you doing now?
Right now, I am applying for ocean engineering and signal processing PhD programs for Fall 2026, working on some ongoing research projects, taking some graduate course work to keep my academic momentum going, and looking for work in the interim.
Which PSU courses have been the most useful to you in your job(s) since graduation? Why?
While I am not currently working in engineering, the PSU courses that have been the most helpful for my research work have been signals and systems and electromagnetics. Having a strong understanding of time versus frequency domain and understanding how these underwater acoustics propagate has been critical in conceptualizing and approaching these problems.
Are there any courses you now wish you had taken at PSU, based on your job requirements? Why?
I wouldn't say there is any one specific course I wished I could have taken, but rather allowing for a little more cross-discipline courses to be taken. Having studied electrical engineering, my electives applicable to my degree were limited to adjacent STEM disciplines, while I would have liked to have the opportunity to branch out a little further and take some earth and environmental science courses as they pertained to my research work.