PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Renmin Pretell, PhD
Education
- PhD, University of California, Davis, CA, 2022
- MS, University of California, Davis, CA, 2019
- BS (Summa Cum Laude), Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (UNI), Peru, 2012
Employment history
- 08/2023 – Present Assistant Professor, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
- 10/2022 – 07/2023 Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- 09/2017 – 09/2022 Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Davis, CA
- 09/2015 – 08/2017 Project Engineer, Golder Associates, Denver, CO
- 01/2013 – 08/2015 Staff Engineer, Golder Associates, Peru
Honors and awards
- ExCEEd Teaching Fellow, ASCE, 2025
- DesignSafe Dataset Award, NHERI, 2024
- Earthquake Spectra Outstanding Reviewer, EERI, 2023
- Building Future Faculty (BFF), NCSU, 2022
- Haley & Aldrich Diversity and Equity essay contest winner, 2021
- Patrick C. Lucia Geotechnical Engineering Scholarship, 2019
- Excellence Rating on thesis defense (UNI), 2014
- Top Student 2012-I (UNI), Rank: 1/120, 2012
- Best Research Project 2012 (UNI), 2012
- Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo Scholarship (UNI), 2010
GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Santosh Katuwal
Research areas
Seismic site response, ground motion modeling
Degree objective: PhD (expected: May 2027)
Santosh completed his master’s degree at Purbanchal University, where he graduated in first position and received two Gold Medals for securing the top rank. At UNR, he was awarded the Nevada DRIVE Graduate Research Assistantship. Santosh works on integrating theoretical approaches and computational analysis to better understand site effects. His long-term goal is to develop tools and models that connect seismic data with engineering applications to support communities in reducing seismic risk.
Carlos Fernández Portal
Research areas
Seismic site response, V_S profile uncertainty
Degree objective: MS (expected: Dec. 2026)
Carlos earned his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the National University of Engineering in Lima, Peru. Before UNR, Carlos worked as a Research Assistant at CISMID (Peru). Carlos' research interests include geotechnical earthquake engineering, dynamic soil behavior, and programming applications in Python for data analysis.
Cesar Manuel Sanchez Ore
Research areas
Soil spatial variability, tailings
Degree objective: MS (expected: Dec. 2026)
Cesar holds a BS in civil engineering from the National University of Engineering in Peru. Before joining UNR, Cesar spent three years with WSP at the Lima office working in tailings dam projects. Cesar's research interests include mine tailings and soil's spatial variability.