I am an associate professor at the University of Jamestown (UJ) in Jamestown, North Dakota, and its civil engineering department chair. The University of Jamestown is a teaching-focused university and in Fall 2022, it started offering a new civil engineering program in its Engineering Division. The program has been steadily growing and last Spring of 2026, it has graduated its first cohort, who are now working in reputable engineering companies.
Courses that I normally teach at UJ include Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Transportation Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Wastewater Treatment, Physics, Soils and the Environment, and Engineering Statistics. In the past, I've also taught Surveying, Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory, Physical Geology laboratory, Environmental Science laboratory, and Fundamentals of Engineering.
My current research interests revolve around the field of hydrology, focusing on curve number hydrology, as well as engineering education. I am currently a member of the American Society of Civil Engineer's Curve Number Committee.
I earned my PhD at Texas A&M University. My dissertation focused on the application of the NRCS Unit Hydrograph method in Texas and specifically, on its parameter peak rate factor (PRF). Previously, I earned my master's degree at The University of Texas at Austin where I served as a research assistant in the university’s Center for Water and the Environment. My master's thesis concentrated on the determination of flow directions and accumulations in urban watersheds using a hydrodynamic model as opposed to a static terrain model.
I earned my bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines Los Banos. After graduating, I immediately joined the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering, UPLB. As a faculty, I was instructor-of-record in classes on Hydraulic Engineering, Structural Engineering, and Higher Surveying as well as laboratory instructor for classes on Transportation Engineering, and Construction/Materials Testing. In two years of teaching at UPLB, I taught over 300 students, and served as direct thesis supervisor to 10.
Aside from my academic experiences, I served as a water resources intern for Plummer (formerly Alan Plummer Associates, Inc.) in Austin, Texas. In that role, I used coupled SWAT and CE-QUAL-W2 model to simulate water quality of a large lake. I also devised a method for simulating future inflows according to different land use scenarios.
I am a Christian and I believe that Science and Faith are always complementary and never contradictory. Among my hobbies are traveling with my family, fathering, and playing the piano. I love barbecue, classical music, and Star Wars.
I am a Christian and I believe that Science and Faith are always complementary and never contradictory. Among my hobbies are traveling with my family, fathering, and playing the piano. I love barbecue, classical music, and Star Wars.
You may reach me through my work email address: Jonathan (dot) Lasco (at) uj (dot) edu.
