Dr. Glenn Tootle
Professor
Contact
- 262 Hardaway Hall
- phone (205) 348-0662
- fax (205) 348-0783
Education
- Ph.D., Engineering (Civil), University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2005
- M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Florida, 1987
- B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Florida, 1985
Dr. Glenn Tootle’s research efforts focus on paleo (using tree rings) reconstructions of hydrologic variables, long lead-time forecasting of streamflow, drought frequency, and alpine glacier impacts on streamflow.
As both lead and co-principal investigator, he has multiple awards from the National Science Foundation’s P2C2 program, the National Science Foundation’s Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems (NSF INFEWS) program, the National Science Foundation’s Research Traineeship Program (NRT), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s sponsored Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Program, and CIROH (USGS).
He regularly publishes articles pertaining to his research and has chaired both doctorate and master’s students while actively engaging undergraduate students in research. He served as an associate editor for the ASCE Journal of Hydrologic Engineering and consulted as a registered professional engineer in Florida and Nevada in the 1990s. He teaches courses in water resources and has led an abroad program (UA in Europe: Climate & Water) since 2012. In 2021, he was selected a Fulbright Research and Teaching Scholar to the Università di Trento (Italy).
He retired as a Captain from the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps (Navy Seabees) after ~25 years, which included two post 9/11 mobilizations and service as commanding officer for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion TWO-FIVE.
Affiliated Areas
Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Alabama Water Institute, Center for Sedimentary Basin Studies
Selected Publications
- M.A. Lisa Davis, Ray Lombardi, Matthew D. Gage, Glenn Tootle, Tammy Rittenour, Alexander C. Quimby, High and dry: A ∼300-year record of hydrologic extremes from the French Broad River in the southeastern U.S., Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, Volume 61, 2025,102673, ISSN 2214-5818,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102673. - Leščešen, I.; Ramírez Molina, A.A.; Tootle, G. A Paleo-Perspective of 21st Century Drought in the Hron River (Slovakia). Hydrology 2025, 12, 169. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology12070169
- Ramírez Molina, A.A.; Leščešen, I.; Tootle, G.; Gong, J.; Josić, M. Hydrological Dynamics and Climate Variability in the Sava River Basin: Streamflow Reconstructions Using Tree-Ring-Based Paleo Proxies. Water 2025, 17, 417. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17030417
- Ramírez Molina, A.A.; Tootle, G.; Formetta, G.; Piechota, T.; Gong, J. Extraordinary 21st Century Drought in the Po River Basin (Italy). Hydrology 2024, 11, 219. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology11120219
- Madrigal, C.; Bedri, R.; Piechota, T.; Li, W.; Tootle, G.; El-Askary, H. Water Whiplash in Mediterranean Regions of the World. Water 2024, 16, 450. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030450
Awards and Honors
- Fulbright Scholar Award, Fulbright Scholar Program, 2020
- In 2021, he served as a Fulbright Research and Teaching Scholar to the University of Trento (Italy). While in Trento, he developed two new UA courses (CE 270: Field Studies in Water and Climate and CE 574: Paleohydrology) which will be offered during the UA Faculty Led abroad program he leads each summer to Italy.
Dr. Tootle's Impact

Natural Records
UA Researchers use nature to discover how waterways behaved before recorded history

Two UA Faculty Members Named Fulbright Scholars
Two University of Alabama faculty members will receive Fulbright Scholar Grants for the upcoming year.