Professor Stagge received his PhD in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech University, focusing on water resources optimization in the Washington D.C. area. He received MS and BS degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland.

His research deals primarily with understanding hydrologic extremes, with the goal of decreasing drought vulnerability. His prior postdoctoral research at the University of Oslo dealt with quantifying observed and projected drought risk across Europe as part of the EU-funded Drought R&SPI project