Team

Dr. Kolawole is an Assistant Professor of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), and also the Faculty Coordinator for the Geosystems Minor program at NJIT. He pioneered the “biogeomechanics” concept, which studies the mechanical response of rocks due to biological-induced reactions. He received his BS from Rivers State University in Nigeria (2012) and MS from the University of Miskolc in Hungary (2018). He then earned his Ph.D. (2021) degree from Texas Tech University with a concentration in geomechanics. Dr. Kolawole worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas Tech University (2021), and later as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Hope College, Michigan (2022) before joining NJIT in 2022 Summer. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers. His current research interests are related to biogeomechanics, natural and built infrastructure, energy systems, sustainability, and geohazard mitigation across various scales (nano, micro, meso, and macro scales) and timeframes (from short-term to long-term). He is a recipient of the Future Leader Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA). He currently serves on the Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering (COGGE) at the U.S. National Academies. He is an Editorial Board Member of Springer Nature’s Discover Civil Engineering journal.