Faculty Profile for Dr. Stacey Elizabeth Kulesza

profile photo for Dr. Stacey Elizabeth Kulesza
Dr. Stacey Elizabeth Kulesza
Associate Professor — Ingram School of Engineering
Program Faculty — Ingram School of Engineering
RFM 5200
phone: (512) 245-1826

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Stacey Kulesza is an associate professor at Texas State University in the geotechnical area within civil engineering. After she received her Ph.D. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University in 2013, she was an assistant/associate professor at Kansas State University from 2013-2021. Dr. Kulesza's research focuses on in situ and laboratory characterization of geo-materials with applied geophysics, identifying anthropogenic impacts on soil properties, and monitoring deteriorating infrastructure. She also studies asset-based frameworks that support diverse pathways towards creating authentic engineering identities. Her research sponsors include the US Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, National Science Foundation, Kansas Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is the director of the CREATE University Transportation Center, sponsored by the US DOT and led by Texas State with four partner universities (https://create.engineering.txst.edu/). The mission of CREATE is to enhance coastal transportation infrastructure durability to ensure lasting impacts on society and the environment. She is also a member of the NSF Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) team and participated in the GEER evaluation of the city of Houston impacts from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. She is a registered professional engineer in the state of Kansas.

Teaching Interests

Kulesza's teaching philosophy is to create a framework for life-long learning by fostering skills in communication, critical thinking, and team work. She aims to do this by creating an inclusive environment inside and outside of the classroom. Her research and current courses are focused on geotechnical engineering. She has primarily taught courses related to geotechnical design, advanced soil testing, and soil mechanics and enjoys teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses. Her primary undergraduate course is soil mechanics. She has developed six in-class demonstrations, approximately one demonstration per major topic, to supplement in-class lectures. She has also developed online homework problems and two-minute review videos to supplement these problems. She has developed four graduate level geotechnical courses.

Research Interests

Kulesza's research focuses on identifying anthropogenic impacts on soil properties, applied geophysics and soil erosion potential, and characterizing infrastructure deterioration. Her research group seeks to understand the in situ integrity of natural materials and aging infrastructure to support the global initiative of sustainability and resiliency. She also studies asset-based frameworks that support diverse pathways towards creating authentic engineering identities. Her research sponsors include the National Science Foundation, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Kansas Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Water Research Institute.

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Gombac, A. D., Kulesza, S. E., & Almikati, A. (2025). Efficacy of Marine Electrical Resistivity Surveys to Determine Maximum Scour Depth and Scour Infill. Transportation Research Record. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981251341346
  • Parr, K., Kulesza, S., & Barry, M. (2024). Modified Complex Electrical Resistivity Technique: Applications to Saturated and Unsaturated Soils. ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal, 47(6). https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20230491
  • Kulesza, S., Mathis, M., Alcarcon, V., & Sassenrath, G. (2024). Critical Shear Stress Variability in Claypan Soils with Depth. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 79(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2024.00099
  • Kulesza, S., Parsons, R., & Han, J. (2024). What are the most important items to inspect on an MSE Wall? A summary from 30 experts. Transportation Research Record. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981241230521
  • Anderson, S., Akhoodan, M., Burns, S., Castenada-Lopez, H., Fishman, K., Frankel, G., … Rutherford, L. (2023). Corrosion of Buried Steel at New and In-Service Infrastructure. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26686

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities. September 2024
  • Award / Honor Recipient: New Faces in G-I, ASCE Geo-Institute. June 2024

Selected Grants

  • Kulesza, Stacey E, Almikati, Abdurrahman. Optimal geosynthetic design for unsaturated fouled ballast on weak subgrade, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)/ Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC ), Federal, $149120. (Funded: June 30, 2025 - May 31, 2027). Grant.
  • Kulesza, Stacey, Story, Brett, Barry, Michelle. Large scale testing for detecting changes in track modulus with low-cost sensors installed on rolling stock, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal, $100000. (Submitted: December 20, 2023, Funded: May 2025 - March 2027). Grant.
  • Kulesza, Stacey (Principal), Wang, Feng (Co-Principal), Shi, Xijun (Co-Principal). University Transportation Center: Coastal REsearch and Transportation Education (CREATE), US Department of Transportation, Federal, $10000000. (Submitted: August 2022, Funded: June 2023 - June 2028). Grant.
  • Kulesza, Stacey (Principal). A mechanistic phenomenological investigation of fouled ballast to support in situ identification of fouling, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal, $140024. (Submitted: October 30, 2021, Funded: October 2022 - May 2024). Grant.
  • Kulesza, Stacey. We are thriving: Challenging negative discourse through voices of women in project teams, National Science Foundation, Federal, $42469. (Funded: May 2020 - August 2023). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Chair
ASCE GI Outreach and Engagement Committee
March 2020-2024
Member
National Academies Corrosion of Buried Steel at New and In-Service Infrastructure
August 2020-October 2022
Member
Run 2 R1 Commission
August 2023-Present
Member
PC Committee
2022-Present
Editorial Review Board Member
Advances in Civil Engineering Materials
January 2020-Present