Zapata's research focuses on unsaturated and expansive soils, soil behavior under static/repeated loads, fluid flow and volume change modeling, environmental impacts, and soil improvement.

Khodadadi Tirkolaei's research interests include Geotechnical Engineering, Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering, Biogeotechnical Engineering, and Mining Geotechnics

Salifu leads interdisciplinary (Ag-Env-Bio-Geotech) engineering research in the development of sustainable nature-based solutions to mitigate risks associated with soil systems in civil infrastructure and agriculture.