Salam Murtada is a civil and environmental engineer working as floodplain hydrologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in St. Paul, Minnesota. His job duties include developing and reviewing hydrological and hydraulic models for FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) and floodplain studies, culvert design using the geomorphic approach, watershed modeling to evaluate best management practices, and review of FEMA letter of map change (LOMC) projects and floodplain analysis/no-rise submittals. Before moving to Minnesota in 2008, he worked for the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program (currently Division of Mitigation Services) to provide construction oversight and FEMA compliance of stream restoration projects. He has presented at several national and state conferences, including Transportation Resilience: International Conference on Resilience to Natural Hazards and Extreme Weather, International Drainage Symposium, Minnesota Water Resources Conference, North Carolina Stream Conference, Minnesota Association of Floodplain Managers Conference, and North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers Conference.
He graduated from West Virginia University with a Master of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering (Structural) and Petroleum Engineering. His post-graduate courses include Advanced Stream Design at North Carolina State University, Geographic Information Systems at the University of St. Thomas, and Watershed Hydrological Modeling at the University of Minnesota.
Salam became a Professional Hydrologist in 2018. He joined the AIH Executive Committee as Treasurer in January of 2020 and became the VP of Institute Development in the spring of 2021.