Biography
Dr. Sivapalan's research has focused on making predictions in ungauged basins, increasingly in the context of human-induced environmental changes. A basic aim of his research has been to understand observed space-time variability of rainfall-runoff processes at a wide range of scales, including their extremes, and to interpret these in terms of underlying climate-soil-vegetation-topography interactions. Increased focus on hydrologic change has led him to launch the new sub-field of socio-hydrology that aims to explore the dynamic feedbacks between social and hydrological systems lying at the heart of the many critically important water management challenges. Dr. Sivapalan is especially keen towards ensuring that advances in predictions based on socio-hydrologic understanding are used to address acute water management challenges in developing countries where resources are scarce and social and environmental vulnerabilities are intertwined. He has led major efforts towards developing an international network of scientists to address critical water management challenges in the emergent Anthropocene.
Education
- Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Princeton University
- M.A., Civil Engineering, Princeton University
- M.Eng., Water Resources Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
- B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Ceylon, Sri Lanka
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Chester and Helen Siess Endowed Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Recent Publications
Ghotbi, S., Wang, D., Singh, A., Blöschl, G., & Sivapalan, M. (2020). A New Framework for Exploring Process Controls of Flow Duration Curves. Water Resources Research, 56(1), [e2019WR026083]. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026083
Gleeson, T., Wang-Erlandsson, L., Porkka, M., Zipper, S. C., Jaramillo, F., Gerten, D., Fetzer, I., Cornell, S. E., Piemontese, L., Gordon, L. J., Rockström, J., Oki, T., Sivapalan, M., Wada, Y., Brauman, K. A., Flörke, M., Bierkens, M. F. P., Lehner, B., Keys, P., ... Famiglietti, J. S. (2020). Illuminating water cycle modifications and Earth system resilience in the Anthropocene. Water Resources Research, 56(4), [e2019WR024957]. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR024957
Hung, F., Harman, C. J., Hobbs, B. F., & Sivapalan, M. (2020). Assessment of Climate, Sizing, and Location Controls on Green Infrastructure Efficacy: A Timescale Framework. Water Resources Research, 56(5), [e2019WR026141]. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026141
Medeiros, P., & Sivapalan, M. (2020). From hard-path to soft-path solutions: slow–fast dynamics of human adaptation to droughts in a water scarce environment. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 65(11), 1803-1814. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2020.1770258
Roobavannan, M., Kandasamy, J., Pande, S., Vigneswaran, S., & Sivapalan, M. (2020). Sustainability of agricultural basin development under uncertain future climate and economic conditions: A socio-hydrological analysis. Ecological Economics, 174, [106665]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106665
