People

Lori Tunstall, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Professor Tunstall enjoys research related to concrete durability and sustainability, and advancements in construction materials. She values diversity and is committed to a group culture that is built on mutual respect and inclusion. In her free time, Prof. Tunstall enjoys spending time with her family, playing the violin, and painting. Since coming to Colorado, Prof. Tunstall has taken up cycling, so cheer her on if you see her laboring uphill!

Curriculum Vitae

 

Ph.D. Candidates

Julia Hylton

Julia works with carbon-sequestering, eco-friendly concrete additives in partnership with Dr. Tunstall and NREL. She researched this topic as an undergraduate while earning her B.S. in Civil Engineering at Mines and is continuing this topic as a Ph.D. candidate! When she’s not boring her friends and family with concrete facts, she is probably skiing, painting, or cooking.

Rad Shuvro

Rad is studying the air void shell microstructure and permeability measurements in concrete. He loves music. Back in college, he was the vocalist of a heavy metal group.

Cara Fragomeni

Cara is a Ph.D. student in the civil and environmental engineering department here at Mines, and her work focuses on creating sustainable building materials through geopolymerization of mine tailings. Geopolymers have shown great promise as a replacement for ordinary Portland cement concrete, but have a much lower energy input. She is specifically studying the microstructure and durability of the geopolymers using various materials science techniques, such as nitrogen adsorption, thermogravimetric analysis, helium pycnometry, and more. In her time outside the lab, she likes to enjoy Colorado’s beautiful scenery, whether by rock climbing, hiking, or just reading a book on her balcony! 

Undergraduate researchers

Mikayla Oligney

Mikayla is a senior studying Civil Engineering. After graduating, she will be pursuing a master’s degree at Mines in Geotechnical Engineering. The research Mikayla has done with this group has been an air void analysis project with different mix designs and how these mixes perform under different freeze-thaw conditions. Mikayla enjoys hiking, skiing, climbing, backpacking, and camping.

Idaly Diaz Garcia

Idaly will be a sophomore for the Fall 2021 term studying civil engineering. The research she focused on was studying the compressive and flexural strength of concrete with different amounts of biochar. When she’s not studying or in the lab, she enjoy painting, hiking, and playing her violin!