Rafael O. Tinoco
Primary Research Area
- Water Resources Engineering and Science
Research Areas
For More Information
Biography
Biographical sketch.
Rafael O. Tinoco holds a Civil Engineering degree from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (2005). He conducted his graduate studies at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, where he earned his M.S. (2008) and Ph.D. (2011) in Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology.
After graduation, Dr. Tinoco worked as a lecturer and postdoctoral associate at Cornell University, before taking a postdoctoral researcher position at the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of Cantabria. He later returned to Cornell University as a visiting instructor, teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses on fluid mechanics and transport and mixing processes, before joining the Faculty at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois during Fall 2015.
Education
- Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 2011
- M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, 2008
- B.S. Civil Engineering, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 2005
Academic Positions
- Research Affiliate, Prairie Research Institute, November 2024-Present
- Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, August 2023- Present
- Assistant Professor, University of Illinois, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, August 2015 - August 2023
- Instructor, Cornell University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, May 2015 - July 2015
- Visiting Instructor, Cornell University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, May 2014 - December 2014
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Environmental Hydraulics Institute of Cantabria, July 2012 - May 2014
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cornell University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, January 2012 - July 2012
- Instructor, Cornell University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, August 2011 - December 2011
Professional Registrations
- International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research, IAHR, 2009-Present
- International Association of Hydrological Sciences, IAHS, 2008 - Present
- American Geophysical Union, AGU, 2007 - Present
Primary Research Area
- Water Resources Engineering and Science
Research Areas
Books Edited or Co-Edited (Original Editions)
- Tinoco, R.O., Prasad, V., You, H., Luo, Y., Salas, C. & Shukla, T. 13th Symposium on River, Coastal, and Estuarine Morphodynamics (RCEM2023), Book of Abstracts, Urbana, IL, USA, 2023.
- Coco, G., Blanco, B., Olabarrieta, M., and Tinoco, R.O., 8th Symposium on River, Coastal, and Estuarine Morphodynamics (RCEM2013), Book of Abstracts, Santander, Spain, 2013.
Selected Articles in Journals
- Covarrubias-Contreras B.R., Torres-Freyermuth A., Tinoco R.O., Figueroa-Espinoza B. 2025. "Interaction between a bubble curtain with waves and currents: implications on sediment dispersal". Environ Fluid Mech 25, 14 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-025-10029-1
- You H. & Tinoco R.O. 2025 “Characterization of porous in-stream structures to assess their implications on flow dynamics and sediment transportâ€, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 130, e2024JF007861. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JF007861
- Jin C., Gong Z., San Juan J.E., Tinoco R.O. & Coco G. 2025. “On the role of ripple secondary crest on nearbed hydrodynamics" Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 130, e2024JF007860. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JF007860
- Mullarney, J.C., Ackerman, J.D., Comeau, S., Koehl, M.A.R., Schaum, E., Tinoco, R.O., Wain, D.J., Yamazaki, H. 2024. "Life in turbulent waters: unsteady biota-flow interactions across scales". Limnology and Oceanography (accepted).
- Vona, I., Tseng, C.Y., Tinoco, R.O. and Nardin, W., 2024. �Hydrodynamics of artificial and oyster-populated breakwaters: A laboratory study with scaled-down oyster castles under unidirectional flow�. Journal of Environmental Management, 365, p.121574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121574
- Prasad, V., Suski, C.D., Jackson, P.R., George, A., Chapman, D., Fischer, J.R. and Tinoco, R.O. 2024. "Limiting downstream dispersal of invasive carp egg surrogates using a laboratory-scale oblique bubble screen". Journal of Ecohydraulics, TJOE (2332994). https://doi.org/10.1080/24705357.2024.2332994
- Tseng, C.Y. and Tinoco, R.O., 2024. "Canopy randomness, scale, and stem size effects on the interfacial transfer process in vegetated flows". Water Resources Research, 60(3), p.e2023WR035220. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035220
- Ranjan, P., & Tinoco, R. O. 2023. "On the effects of turbulence modulation driven by suspended sediment stratification in emergent rigid canopies". Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 129, e2023JF007197. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JF007197
- Pasternack, G.B., Tonina, D., Casas-Mulet, R., Adeva-Bustos, A., Vanzo, D., John, A. and Tinoco R.O., 2023. "Climate Change Prediction and Adaptation in Ecohydraulics", Hydrolink, 2023(1).
- You, H., & Tinoco, R. O. 2023. Turbulent coherent flow structures to predict the behavior of particles with low to intermediate Stokes number between submerged obstacles in streams. Water Resources Research, 59(2), e2022WR032439. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032439
- Jin, C., Gong, Z., Shi, L., Zhao, K., Tinoco, R.O., San Juan, J.E., Geng, L. and Coco, G., 2022. “Medium-term observations of salt marsh morphodynamics”. Frontiers in Marine Science, p.1778. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.988240
- Maza, M., Temmerman, S., van Wesenbeeck, B.K., Ghisalberti, M, Tinoco, R.O. and Hu, Z. 2022. "Editorial: Coastal protection provided by ecosystems: Observations and modeling across scales". Front. Mar. Sci. 9:998923. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.998923
- Yadav, V., Sherly, M.A., Ranjan, P., Prasad, V., Tinoco, R.O., & Laurent, A. 2022. "Risk of plastics losses to the environment from Indian landfills". Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 187, p.106610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106610
- Ranjan, P., Mittal, K., Chamorro, L.P. & Tinoco, R.O. 2022. "Impact of gaps on the flow statistics in an emergent rigid canopy", Physics of Fluids 34, 066601. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0088527.
- Jin, C., Coco, G., Tinoco, R.O., Ranjan, P., Gong, Z., Dutta, S., San Juan, J., & Friedrich, H. 2022, “High-resolution Large Eddy Simulations of Vortex Dynamics Over Ripple Defects under Oscillatory Flow, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JF006328
- Tseng, C-Y. & Tinoco, R. O., 2021. “From Substrate to Surface: A Turbulence-based Model for Gas Transfer across Sediment-water-air Interfaces in Vegetated Stream”. Water Resources Research, 57, e2021WR030776. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030776
- Jin, C., Coco, G., Tinoco, R.O., Ranjan, P., San Juan, J., Dutta, S., Friedrich, H. & Gong, Z. 2021. "Large-Eddy Simulation of Three-Dimensional Flow Structures Over Wave-generated Ripples", Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. Accepted March 22, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5120
- You, H. & Tinoco, R.O., 2021, "Analyzing the response of grass carp larvae to acoustic stimuli using particle tracking velocimetry". Water, 13(5), 603; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050603
- Tseng, C.Y. and Tinoco, R.O., 2021. "A Two‐Layer Turbulence‐based Model to Predict Suspended Sediment Concentration in Flows with Aquatic Vegetation. Geophysical Research Letters", 48, p.e2020GL091255. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091255
- Prada, A.F., George, A.E., Stahlschmidt, B.H., Jackson, P.R., Chapman, D.C. and Tinoco, R.O., 2021. "Using turbulence to identify preferential areas for grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) larvae in streams: a laboratory study". Water Resources Research, 57, p.2020WR028102. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028102
- Tinoco, R.O., Prada, A.F., George, A.E., Stahlschmidt, B.H., Jackson, P.R., Chapman, D.C., 2020. “Identifying turbulence features hindering swimming capabilities of grass carp larvae (Ctenopharyngodon idella) through submerged vegetation”. Journal of Ecohydraulics. https://doi.org/10.1080/24705357.2020.1835566
- Strailey, K.K., Osborn R. T., Tinoco, R.O., Cienciala, P., Rhoads, B.L., & Suski, C.D., 2020, “Simulated instream restoration structures offer swimming and energetic advantages at high flow velocities”, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science. 78(1): 40-56. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2020-0032
- Tseng, C.Y. and Tinoco, R.O., 2020. "A model to predict surface gas transfer rate in streams based on turbulence production by aquatic vegetation". Advances in Water Resources, 143, p.103666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103666
- Jin, C., Coco, G., Tinoco, R.O., Perron, J.T., Myrow, P.M., Huppert, K.L., Friedrich, H., Goldstein, E.B. and Gong, Z., 2020. "Investigating the response of wave-generated ripples to changes in wave forcing". Geomorphology, 363, p.107229, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107229.
- Yadav, V., Sherly, M.A., Ranjan, P., Tinoco, R.O., Boldrin, A., Damgaard, A., & Laurent, A., 2020, “Framework for quantifying environmental losses of plastics from landfills”, Resources, Conservation & Recycling. 161, p.104914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104914
- Prada, A.F., George, A.E., Stahlschmidt, B.H., Jackson, P.R., Chapman, D.C. and Tinoco, R.O., 2020. "Influence of turbulence and in-stream structures on the transport and survival of grass carp eggs and larvae at various developmental stages". Aquatic Sciences, 82(1), p.16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-019-0689-1
- Tinoco, R.O., San Juan, J., & Mullarney, J., 2020, “Simplification Bias: Lessons from Laboratory and Field Data on Vegetation-Flow-Sediment Interactions”, Earth Surf. Proces. Landforms, 45, 121-143, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4743.
- Jin, C., Goldstein E., Zheng, G., Tinoco, R.O., & Coco, G., 2019. "Laboratory experiments on the role of hysteresis, defect dynamics and initial perturbation on wave-generated ripple development", Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 224, 142-153, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.05.003
- San Juan, J., Veliz-Carrillo, G., & Tinoco, R.O., 2019, "Experimental observations of 3D flow alterations by vegetation under oscillatory flows", Env. Fluid Mech. 19:1497-1525 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-019-09672-2
- Prada, A.F., George, A.E., Stahlschmidt, B.H., Chapman, D.C. and Tinoco, R.O., 2018. "Survival and drifting patterns of grass carp eggs and larvae in response to interactions with flow and sediment in a laboratory flume". PloS one, 13(12), p.e0208326. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208326
- Leman A., Holland, M., Tinoco, R.O., 2018, "Identifying the dominant physical processes for mixing in full-scale raceway tanks” Renewable Energy, 129(A), 616-628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.05.087
- Salim, S., Pattiaratchi, C., Tinoco, R. O., & Jayaratne, R., 2018, "Sediment resuspension due to near‐bed turbulent effects: A deep sea case study on the Northwest Continental Slope of Western Australia". J. Geophys. Res: Oceans, 123. 7102-7119. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC013819
- Tinoco R.O., & Coco, G. 2018, "Turbulence as the main driver of resuspension on oscillatory flows through vegetation", J Geophys Res: Earth Surface. 123(5), pp.891-904. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JF004504
- Salim, S., Pattiaratchi, C., Tinoco, R., Coco, G., Hetzel, Y., Wijeratne, S. and Jayaratne, R., 2017. "The influence of turbulent bursting on sediment resuspension under unidirectional currents". Earth Surface Dynamics, 5(3), p.399. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-399-2017
- Tinoco, R.O., & Coco, G., 2016. “A laboratory study on sediment resuspension within arrays of rigid cylinders”, Advances in Water Resources, 92, 1-9, DOI: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2016.04.003.
- Muriel, D.F., Tinoco, R.O., Filardo, B.P., & Cowen, E.A., 2016. "Development of a novel, robust, sustainable and low cost self-powered water pump for use in free-flowing liquid streams", Renewable Energy,91, 466-476. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.01.089
- Tinoco, R.O., Goldstein, E. & Coco, G., 2015. “A data-driven approach as a tool to find physically sound predictors: Application to depth-averaged velocities on flows through submerged arrays of rigid cylinders”, Water Resources Research, 51(2), 1247-1263. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR016380
- Garcia, J., Gomez, A.G., Tinoco, R.O., Samano, M.L., Garcia, A. & Juanes, J., 2014. “A 3D model to analyze environmental effects of dredging operations. Application to the Port of Marin, Spain”, Advances in Geosciences. 39, 95-99. DOI: 10.5194/adgeo-39-95-2014
- Tinoco, R.O., & Coco, G., 2014. “Observations on the effect of emergent vegetation on sediment resuspension under unidirectional currents and waves.”, Earth Surface Dynamics, 2(1), 83-96. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2-83-2014
- Coco, G., Zhou, Z., van Maanen, B., Olabarrieta, M., Tinoco, R.O., & Townend, I., 2013. “Morphodynamics of tidal networks: Advances and challenges”. Marine Geology, 346, 1-16. DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2013.08.005
- Tinoco, R.O. & Cowen, E.A., 2013. “The direct and indirect measurement of boundary stress and drag on individual and complex arrays of elements”. Experiments in Fluids, 54(4), 1-16. DOI: 10.1007/s00348-013-1509-3
- King, A.T., Tinoco, R.O., & Cowen, E.A., 2012. “A k-\epsilon turbulence model based on the scales of vertical shear and stem wakes valid for emergent and submerged vegetated flows”. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 701: 1-39. DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2012.113
- Jaime, A. & Tinoco, R.O., 2006. “Metodos de valuacion de externalidades ambientales provocadas por obras de ingenieria (Valuation of environmental externalities in engineering projects), Ingenieria, Investigacion y Tecnologia, Vol. VII.2, 2006, 105-119, ISSN 1405-7743, in Spanish
Articles in Conference Proceedings
- Tinoco, R.O., Diaz-Gonzalez, D., Blahnik, L., Freitag, B. & Carlstrom, S., “Thermal Mixing at Vegetated Stream Confluences”, 38th IAHR World Congress, September 1-6, 2019, Panama City, Panama.
- King, A.T., Rueda-Valdivia, F.J., Tinoco, R.O., & Cowen, E.A., "Modeling flow and transport through aquatic vegetation in natural water bodies", In Water Engineering for a Sustainable Environment, Proceedings of the 33rd IAHR Congress, Vancouver BC, Canada, August 13, 2009.
- Tinoco, R.O. & Cowen, E.A., “Experimental study of flow through macrophyte canopies”, In Water Engineering for a Sustainable Environment, Proceedings of the 33rd IAHR Congress, Vancouver BC, Canada, pp. 6160-6166. 2009
- Tinoco, R.O. & Cowen, E.A., “Effects of aquatic vegetation density on low speed flows”, Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics, Concepción, Chile, January 13, 2009. p. 510-515
Magazine Articles
- Tinoco, R.O., & Jaime, A., 2005. La carrera de Ingeniería Civil: una prospectiva (Expectations of the programs of Civil Engineering). Civil Engineering Journal from the CICM, 425(52), September 2004, in Spanish.
Reports
- Petri, Aaron C., Michael P. Duczynski, Dex R. Culbertson, Saif A. Malik, Nathan G. Peterson, Juan A. Ramos, Jack Drimer, et al. 2024. Laboratory Assessment of Hydrokinetic Turbines. Champaign, IL: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory.
- Rutherford, C., Pinter, N., Gamez, J., Harder, L., Lobbestael, A., Musgrove, M., Tinoco, R.O., Bernhardt, M., Mofarraj, B., Uong, M.D., & Heddlesten, A. Preliminary Observations of Levee Performance and Damage following the 2015-16 Midwest Floods in Missouri and Illinois, USA. GEER Report.
- Tinoco, R.O., & Jaime, A., 2005. Evolución de las carreras de Ingeniería Civil (Evolution of the Civil Engineering programs), FICA Book series, 2005, in Spanish.
Teaching Honors
- List of Teachers ranked as Excellent by their Students, Spring 2023 (CEE459) (Spring 2023)
- List of Teachers ranked as Excellent by their Students, Fall 2022 (CEE451) (Fall 2022)
- List of Teachers ranked as Excellent by their Students, Fall 2020 (CEE555) (Fall 2020)
- List of Teachers ranked as Excellent by their Students, Fall 2018 (CEE555) (Fall 2018)
- List of Teachers ranked as Excellent by their Students, Spring 2017 (CEE498eh) (Spring 2017)
Research Honors
- 2023 Campus Distinguished Promotion Award (2023)
- NSF CAREER Award (2018)
Other Honors
- Student award: Chien-Yung Tseng – awarded Best Young Professional Award at the IAHR 9th International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics. Seoul, Korea (July 2021)
- Augusto Gonzalez Linares Fellowship to attract international talent in strategic areas, University of Cantabria, Spain (2012 - 2014)