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
Garcia, M., Yu, D., Park, S., Yousefi Bahambari, P., Mohajer Iravanloo, B., & Sivapalan, M. (2022). Weathering water extremes and cognitive biases in a changing climate. Water Security, 15, [100110]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2022.100110
Pande, S., Haeffner, M., Blöschl, G., Alam, M. F., Castro, C., Di Baldassarre, G., Frick-Trzebitzky, F., Hogeboom, R., Kreibich, H., Mukherjee, J., Mukherji, A., Nardi, F., Nüsser, M., Tian, F., van Oel, P., & Sivapalan, M. (2022). Never Ask for a Lighter Rain but a Stronger Umbrella. Frontiers in Water, 3, [822334]. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2021.822334
Pouladi, P., Nazemi, A. R., Pouladi, M., Nikraftar, Z., Mohammadi, M., Yousefi, P., Yu, D. J., Afshar, A., Aubeneau, A., & Sivapalan, M. (2022). Desiccation of a saline lake as a lock-in phenomenon: A socio-hydrological perspective. Science of the Total Environment, 811, [152347]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152347
Wei, Y., Wu, S., Lu, Z., Wang, X., Wu, X., Xu, L., & Sivapalan, M. (2022). Ageing Knowledge Structure in Global River Basins. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, [821342]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.821342
Wei, Y., Wei, J., Li, G., Wu, S., Yu, D., Ghoreishi, M., Lu, Y., Souza, F. A. A., Sivapalan, M., & Tian, F. (2022). A socio-hydrological framework for understanding conflict and cooperation with respect to transboundary rivers. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26(8), 2131-2146. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2131-2022
