UW’s Dejam Named an Inaugural Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS

Morteza Dejam, an associate professor in the University of Wyoming’s Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, has been named an inaugural Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS.

Dejam, also an adjunct associate professor in UW’s School of Computing and a faculty member in UW’s Hydrologic Science Program, achieved the ScholarGPS No. 2 ranking in petroleum engineering in the United States and the ScholarGPS No. 3 ranking in petroleum engineering among all academic scholars worldwide.

His prolific publication record, the high impact of his work and the outstanding quality of his scholarly contributions have placed him in the top 0.05 percent of all scholars worldwide. This achievement is based on his scholarly activity in his discipline over the last five years.

“This reflects my exemplary and extraordinary research, which has made an outstanding impact in the multidisciplinary area of transport phenomena and thermodynamics of fluids in porous media with excellent application to phase behavior of nanoconfined fluids, solute dispersion, geological storage of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, geothermal energy harness and enhanced oil recovery,” Dejam says. “In all of these topics, my research group and I have delivered high-quality research outcomes using analytical, numerical and experimental methodologies.”

Highly Ranked Scholars are those recognized as the most productive authors -- based on the number of publications -- whose works are of profound impact (number of citations) and of utmost quality (h-index). Highly Ranked Scholars are, for the first time, identified within each specialty, discipline, field and all fields. Highly Ranked Scholars are those with ScholarGPS ranks of 0.05 percent or better. For Dejam’s ScholarGPS profile, go here.

Data used to identify the ScholarGPS Highly Ranked Scholars are based on lifetime or previous five-year activity, weighting each publication and citation by the number of authors while excluding self-citations. All Scholars -- including inactive, deceased and retired -- are included.

“I have published over 95 peer-reviewed journal articles, and it has been accelerating, which would be considered exceptional for a young faculty member,” Dejam says. “My research track and citations are remarkable among peers of my age in the field of petroleum engineering at the national and international levels.”

Dejam’s research area is transport phenomena and thermodynamics of fluids in porous media, with a focus on solute dispersion, phase behavior of nanoconfined fluids, geological storage, geothermal energy, enhanced oil recovery, fluid flow in shale rocks and block-to-block interaction in fractured porous media.

His contributions to research, teaching and service have been recognized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Rocky Mountain North America Region through the SPE Regional Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award, the SPE Regional Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty in 2019, and the SPE Regional Service Award in 2022. Dejam was recognized by UW’s Office of the President when he received the 2022 Presidential Scholarly Achievement Award for Promising Early-Career Faculty.

Dejam is an associate editor for Water Resources Research and the Journal of Hydrology, published by the American Geophysical Union and Elsevier, respectively.

He received his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; his master’s degree in chemical engineering/hydrocarbon reservoirs from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran; and his bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering/reservoirs from the Petroleum University of Technology in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran.