Nelson Javier Cely-Calixto has been a professor and researcher at the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander in Cúcuta, Colombia, since 2008. He is a civil engineer with a master's degree in Hydraulic Works from the Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela, and is a PhD in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering at the Universidad del Valle, Colombia. He has received academic distinctions for his contributions to the field of hydraulic engineering and water resources.