Marcel P. Dulay, P.E.
4099 Gadsden Rd. • Jacksonville, FL 32207 • (904) 391-1019
Mr. Dulay has 19 years of experience in civil/environmental engineering and is currently Ph.D. candidate in
public policy at The University of Texas at Austin with research interests that deal with how engineering and
public policy intersect. His particular policy experience is in transboundary natural resource issues,
environment policy development, conflict resolution, and public participation. Areas of engineering
expertise include water infrastructure engineering, and water resource planning where he has implied a
variety of solution methods such as GIS, simulation/optimization modeling, statistics, qualitative analysis,
advanced computer modeling techniques, and other evaluation methods. Mr. Dulay has extensive experience
on U.S./Mexico issues. Part of his work resulted in an EPA report on the benefits of infrastructure on the
environment along the U.S./Mexico Border, which will be accompanied by a documentary film. He is also a
key member of a group of researchers who are partnering with Sandia National Laboratories on producing
state-of the-art models and strategies for dealing with conflict in water resources. Through his previous work
with Parsons, Mr. Dulay has managed multi-million dollar projects, dealt with international clients and
supervised dozens of people. He has presented papers on his engineering work and research, and co-chaired
conferences and panels on environmental issues. He is a founder of a chapter of Engineers for Sustainable
World, a current member of Water for People, and former at-large member of the Senate of College
Councils. Mr. Dulay is seeking professional and/or academic positions where he is able to make advances in
conflict resolution methods for environmental policy through novel uses of scientific information and
alternative dispute resolution tools.
Professional License: Texas 87692
Professional Preparation:
University of Texas at Austin (Expected May 2009) – Ph.D. Public Policy, environmental/economics focus
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Dissertation: “Achieving Harmony: Attainment of Multi-Party Agreement over Environmental Policy”
Course work: Micro economics, computational economics, environmental economics, natural resource
economics, sustainable development, NAFTA law, regression analysis, public financial management,
transboundary water resources, and decision support analysis, Cross Border Water Resources (TA),
Groundwater Policy in Central Texas (Assistant Lecturer), and Public Policy, Paradigms in Public Policy, and
Experimental Design.
Portfolios: Graduate Integrated Watershed Science Portfolio, Doctoral Dispute Resolution Portfolio, and
Graduate Portfolio in Sustainability.
Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution (2005): 40-hour Mediation Certification
University of Texas at Austin (1996) - M.S. Environmental Engineering (water resource focus)
University of Texas at El Paso (1994) - B.S. Civil Engineering with honors (water focus)
Skills:
Bilingual (Spanish and English)
Software: Geo Spatial (ArcView 9); database (Access, SQL, and XML); analysis (Stata, SAS, and Excel);
simulation (OASIS, HEC-RAS, QUAL, WASP, Hydra, H2O Net, WAM, MODFlow, POWERSIM);
optimization (GAM, MATLAB, GAUSS, Duali, Neural Nets, Mathematica, and Excel solver); programming
(Visual Basic, Java, HTML, Avenue Script, Fortran, and Basic); and multimedia (Finalcut Pro, Avid, Flash,
Fireworks, Dreamweaver, AutoCAD, and CorelDRAW)
Affiliations:
American Water Works Association
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
MDULAY@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU
LAST UPDATED: DECEMBER 7, 2008
Water Environment Federation: Latin American Regional Committee member
Water for People: Mexico Projects director
Engineers for a Sustainable World: Founding member of U.T. at Austin Chapter.
American Society of Engineers, Environmental Water Resources Institute: International Committee Member
Awards:
University of Texas at Austin Research Showcase, 2008 – 3rd Place
Save Barton Creek Association’s Positive Impact Award, 2006 – Best project award
MODFLOW and More Award, 2006 – Best Student Abstract Award
Grants and Contracts, year awarded (amount):
Texas Water Development Board Contract, 2006 ($100,000) – Public process for planning
Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment Grant, 2006 ($15,000) – Interactive DVD
NADBank Contract, 2005 ($50,000) – Documentary Film on the Rio Grande
KGC Grant, 2005 ($8,000) – Build decision support model for Rio Grande
Sandia National Laboratories Contract, 2004 ($500,000) – Decision support for groundwater
EPA Border 2012 Grant, 2004 ($45,000 ) – Study of the impacts of environmental infrastructure
CBIRD–GLOBAL Grant, 2004 ($10,000) –Research in Mexico City, Mexico
Strauss Graduate Fellowship, 2002 ($51,000) – Graduate research fellowship
Professional Experience:
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN (1994 – 1996 & 2002 – Present): GRA and TA
Public Policy Dissertation (2002-Present): Mr. Dulay’s research looks to improve the environmental
planning process by integrating public participation, science, and decision support. The research uses an
experimental approach that refines the traditional stakeholder process that allows stakeholders to be heard,
but also integrates stakeholder interests into scientific models. The research is based on Habermas’s ideal
communication situation that theorizes that consensus can be reach if people equally participate in the
process. The goal of the dissertation is to document experiments with a decision making process that must
include stakeholder input by evaluating the speed of consensus, satisfaction among stakeholders, and
effective use of science. The study was done with real stakeholders making real decisions: groundwater
management for the Barton Spring Segment of the Edwards Aquifer, ground water management for the Hill
Country Ground Water Management Area 9, surface water allocation for the Rio Grande Basin, surface
water allocation for the Saskatchewan River, and water quality for the Leon River and Proctor Lake
watersheds.
North American Development Bank, Project Manager and Lead Investigator (2005-2008): The project
produced a documentary film showing the lives of citizens along the Rio Grande and how infrastructure
affects their lives (human elements, socio-economic and health impacts).
University of Lethbridge Collaborative Research, Facilitation Trainer (2006-2008): The project funded
the training of students to conduct stakeholder interviews, analyze interviews, and develop stakeholder
narratives that will be used to aid the development of an OASIS by Hydrologics surface water model to
evaluate various scenarios of operation, investment, and management of the Saskatchewan River Basin.
Sandia National Labs, Project Manager (2004-2007): This project purpose was to development novel
approaches and tools for use in conflict resolution and planning for natural resource allocation that includes a
public discourse and scientific models. Currently working with MODFLOW, Optimization, JAVA, HSPF,
and other open sources tools. The intent is for the consensus process and the decision support tools to be
provided to groundwater management areas in Texas to assist them in the long term groundwater
management planning. Responsibilities included facilitation of stakeholder meetings; development of GIS,
interactive MS Access links to model output, graphics, video, and other user interfaces; student guidance,
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training, and management of students in implementing an experimental process with real stakeholders of the
Barton Springs Segment of the Edwards Aquifer (BSEA).
EPA Grant, Project Manager and Lead Investigator (2004-2007): The project evaluated environmental
and socio-economic impact of water and wastewater projects that have been funded through various
agencies, as well as water conservation projects for agriculture. This project documented the interest of the
various interests in the basin that were used in building a model to understand how investment in water
conservation, changes in operation, and reallocation of water rights affect flows of the Rio Grande. The
project included the use of video, hydraulic modeling with OASIS by Hydrologics, GIS, and other custom
applications with MS Access, excel, and other programs languages.
Texas Water Development Board, Project Management and Training (2006-2007): This project was the
implementation of a scaled up version of a process used with BSEA for management of groundwater in
central Texas. Provided project management and training of students to learn and implement an
experimental process that helped eight groundwater district managers make decisions on how they will
collectively manage their groundwater at the Groundwater management area level. The goal was to support
the decision processes of selecting a future desired condition of the management available groundwater, a
mandate of the Texas legislature.
Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment Grant (2006): the project produced an interactive
DVD to teach how to listen to narratives of water disputes through a case study of Israeli and Palestinian
subjects.
Environmental Engineering Masters Research (1996-1994): Mr. Dulay was part of a research team
funded through a Texas Department of Transportation Grant with the purpose of understanding how to better
treat urban stormwater runoff. He developed a synthetic mixture, based on chemistry and particle
distribution, which was representative of storm water runoff. This mixture was applied in pilot scale studies
directed to evaluate type I sedimentation properties and filtration efficiency through three horizontal flow
filter media.
PARSONS, Austin TX. (January 1996 – Present): Environmental Engineer
Mr. Dulay served in various capacities with Parsons on projects that span all aspects of feasibility analysis
and planning; conceptual and final design; and construction of water related infrastructure (water,
wastewater, and stormwater) and water resources. His numerous projects are located around the U.S., South
America, Guam, and the Middle East. His most recent role with the company is directing public
involvement during the planning and development of infrastructure. A short summary of his responsibilities
are as follows:
Technical Director: Responsible for the integrity of project deliverables, analyses, and evaluations. He has
developed quality assurance (QA) procedures for projects and has been responsible for making sure projects
attain highest levels of QA. He has also addressed technical questions for various projects.
Project Manager: Responsibilities are to assure projects are completed on time and on budget; to manage
numerous employees, to interact with clients. Typical responsibilities included the oversight of work plan
development, performance of engineering evaluations, development of progress reports, and development of
project deliverables.
Lead Engineer: Role is to provide principal engineering expertise, to direct junior staff and to oversee
various aspects of design. Responsibilities included system evaluation, modeling and alternative evaluation.
Task Manager: Responsibilities included performing engineering calculations, performing field inspections,
managing supporting staff and interacting with other project members to complete part of a larger project.
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ENRON Corp., Houston, TX (April 1994 – September 1994): Environmental Engineer Internship
Mr. Dulay developed a waste minimization management database for twenty-two companies within ENRON
to identify cost effective disposal methods; summarized facility waste management inventories, designed a
waste tracking system, provided presentation material for corporate meetings and wrote a closure petition to
the Rail Road Commission for three South Texas land farms.
PSC, El Paso, Texas (September 1989 – April 1994): Engineering Part-time
Mr. Dulay assisted engineers in numerous civil, environmental, and sanitary projects during all design,
construction, and start-up phases for numerous projects in Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. His major
contribution was during the final design phases of a 44 MGD water treatment plant in El Paso, TX. He
designed instrumentation and control plans, generated a computer operating system to provide complete
automation of plant processes, wrote computer operation manuals, conducted operating training sessions on
plant process control and oversaw all computer operations during plant start-up.
Presentation and Publications:
Mr. Dulay has made numerous presentations in public forums, contributed to book chapters, had papers
presented at numerous conferences, organized and participated in several panel discussion and forums and
served as a conference planner. He is currently working with the Texas Secretary of State Office of Border
Affairs on a conference involving key government agency leaders in addressing issues along the U.S.
Mexico Border. His papers are as follows:
Documentary film: Agua for Life, produced by Marcel Dulay and David Eaton, Directed by Marcel Dulay
and Yaron Shemer (April 2008).
Dulay, M. and Eaton, D. “The Consequences of Mexican and US Investments in Water Resources
Infrastructure Along the Rio Grande/ Rio Bravo” Proceedings of World Environmental & Water Resources
Congress 2008, Honolulu, Hawaii (May 15, 2008).
Dulay, M. and Eaton, D. “Infrastructure Investment and Water Quality along the Mexico-Texas Border”
Ciencia Magazine in Monterrey (March 2008).
Dulay, M. and Eaton, D. “Have Improvements in Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Along the Rio
Grande/Rio Bravo Affected the Lives of Mexico and Texas Border Residents?” Proceeding of Texas Water
2008 Conference, San Antonio, TX (March 26, 2008).
Dulay, M. and Eaton D. “How Investment in Wastewater Infrastructure Has Improved Water Quality along
the Mexico-Texas Border” Proceedings of Texas Water 2008 Conference, San Antonio, TX (March 26,
2008).
Dulay, M. and Eaton, D. “Achieving Harmony: Stakeholder Support of Public Policies” Texas Water 2008
Conference in San Antonio, TX (March 26, 2008).
Dulay, M. and Eaton, D. “How Investment in Water, Wastewater, and Irrigation Infrastructure Has Affected
the Mexico-Texas Border.” A report for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA #X4-976742-01
(October 22, 2007).
Dulay, M and Thomason M. “Narrative Techniques in Conflict Management: Use of Narrative in Water
Resource Disputes,” Presented at the Texas Association of Mediators the Six Flags of Mediation Conference
in San Antonio, TX (February 2007).
Dulay, M and Pierce, S. “Rapid Prevention of Disputes in Public Policy and Planning Process,” Presented at
the American Society of Civil Engineers Operations Management Conference, Omaha, NE (August 2006).
Dulay, M. and Eaton, D. “Evaluation of Infrastructure Impacts on Rio Grande River Water Quality,”
Presented at the ASCE World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, Tucson, AZ (May 2006).
Dulay, M. “Linking GIS and OASIS – A Rio Grande Case Study,” Presented at the 15th Annual GIS Forum
J.J. Pickle Research Center, Austin, TX (April 2005).
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Dulay, M. “Computer Assisted Negotiations in Transboundary River Systems,” 4 hour workshop presented
at the National Conference of the American Water Works Association, San Antonio, TX (January 2004).
Dulay, M. and Berg, M. “Water for People: Project in Manuel Benavides, Chihuahua, Mexico,” presented at
Texas Water, WEAT and Texas Section AWWA Joint Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX (July 2003).
Dulay, M. “Risk Assessment of Sustainable Developments in Developing Countries,” presented at 5th
Annual Graduate Student Colloquium in Urban Studies, Austin, TX (February 2003).
Dulay, M. and Lair, S. “Cost Effective Wastewater Planning: Integrating GIS and Hydra with Custom
Scripted Programs,” presented at the International ESRI User Conference in San Diego, CA (June 2002).
Dulay, M. “Reduction of Wastewater Discharges to the Rio Grande in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico,” presented at
Texas Water, WEAT and Texas Section AWWA Joint Annual Conference, Corpus Christi, TX (April 2002).
Dulay, M. “An Evaluation of Control Systems for Highway Runoff,” University of Texas at Austin, Master’s
Thesis, Austin, TX (August 1996).
Pierce, S., Dulay, M., and Lowery, T., “Defining tenable groundwater management: Integrating stakeholder
preferences, distributed parameter models, and systems dynamics to aid groundwater resource allocation.”
Presented at the MODFLOW and More: Managing Ground-Water Systems, Golden, CO (May 2006).
Guggemos, D. and Dulay, M. “Potable Water and Wastewater Planning in Nuevo Laredo,” presented at
WEFTEC 74th Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, GA (October 2001).
Pierce, S., Sharp, J., Eaton, D., and Dulay, M., “Conflict Resolution and Integrating Science Into
Groundwater Policy,” to be presented at the South-Central Section - 43rd Annual Meeting of GSA, Dallas,
TX (March 2009).
J.M. Sharp, Jr., S.A. Pierce, B.A. Smith, M.P. Dulay, D.J. Eaton, “Conflict Resolution and Integration of
Science in Groundwater Policy Development.” Proceedings of Water Down Under 2008, Adelaide, Australia
(March 2008).
Lowry, T., Pierce, S., Tidwell, V., Dulay, M., Sharp, J., Gold, A., Eaton, D., and Jenevein, R. “Integration of
Spatially Aggregated Physical Process Models Within a Systems Dynamics Framework to Assist the Policy
Development and Decision Support Process”, The Geological Society of America, Salt Lake City Annual
Meeting (October 2005).
Suzanne A. Pierce, Michael Ciarleglio, Marcel Dulay, Thomas S Lowry, John M. Sharp, Jr., J.W. Barnes,
David J. Eaton, Vincent C. Tidwell, “Solving for Efficiency or Decision Criteria: When the Non-unique
Nature of Solutions Becomes a Benefit,” presented at the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA
(December 2006).
Working Papers and Books:
“Methods for Public Policy Development: A Handbook on How to Develop Environmental Policy with Public
Involvement and Science,” a book with Mr. Dulay’s research colleagues where they hope to present various novel
methods and other advances gained during their multi-disciplinary research as part of their dissertations.
“Trade Liberalization and Transboundary Wastewater Pollution,” the effects of water quality in the Rio Grade as a
result of the reclamation of wastewater by Mexico.
“The Effectiveness of Public Participation through the CEC on the Environment.” A look at how effective are
NAFTA side agreements as a mechanism to influence the commercial activities that pose environmental risk.
“Modeling Municipal and Agricultural Water Demands: an Optimized Approach,” A simulation utilizing GAMS for
the allocation of water resources based on agricultural and municipal water demands.
“Historic Comparison of the Conditions for the Lawful and Economic Rise of Water Consumption in Texas: Are
Today’s Laws Reasonable?” A historic look at water rights along the Rio Grande.
“Analytical Approach for Evaluation of Infrastructure Policy,” A policy framework for a foundation of technical
analysis of infrastructure development.
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Service:
President’s Task Force on Sustainability (2007-current): Selected by the President of The University of
Texas at Austin to serve on a committee that will develop an actionable sustainability policy for the
University, as well as specific measures to implement policy.
Senate of College Councils (2004): Served as the Chair of the Graduate Committee, authored two
resolutions and moved them to approval.
Doctoral Representative to Student Government (2003): Served as the doctoral students liaison to
student council on issues related to doctoral students.
Engineers for A Sustainable World (2003-current): Co-founder of the Austin Chapter, developed the
initial core team and launched the non-profit student organization at the University of Texas at Austin. lead
the students to one of the largest chapters among the organization, developed projects in developing counties,
and mentored many of the students in career paths.
Conference Planning Committee: Engineers for a Sustainable World 2005 National Conference hosted at
The University of Texas at Austin (October 6-8, 2005). Served as part of the planning committee to develop,
coordinate, and implement feature talks from industry, non-governmental organizations, and academia. The
event had over 500 professionals and students from all over the world for a dialogue on critical global issues.
College of Engineering's Open Mentoring Program (2002-current): Provided guidance to students on
career guidance, real world applications, surviving college, finding jobs, graduate school decisions, and long
term goals.
Austin Clean Water Program (2001-current): At-large member as an environmental leader to serve on
the Austin Clean Water Program Citizens Advisory Group. Served as a public link to the project team,
representing the views of other residents and neighborhoods, stakeholders, customers and Austin's Water
Utility.
Volunteer Instructor (2001-2003): Principals and Practice of Environmental Engineering Exam Instructor
at Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Workshops.
Water for People (20001-current): Member of the American Water Works Association non-profit
organization that looks to provide water in developing countries. Lead the efforts on project in Mexico.
Responsible for completion of a project to provide clean water to a rural Mexican community.
Water for People Silent Auction committee: Planned and participated in 2002 Texas Section AWWA
conference for a benefit for raising money to support water projects in the developing world.
References:
David Eaton, Ph.D., Bess Harris Jones Centennial Professor of Natural Resource Policy Studies at The
University of Texas at Austin (512) 471-8972
Randy Palachek, Regional Director of Parsons Water and Infrastructure (512)719-6007
Vince Tidwell, Ph.D., Water Sector Manager at Sandia National Labs (505) 844-6025
Last Updated December 7, 2008
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