Professor Amir AghaKouchak serves as the Water, Climate and Infrastructure Risk Lead at UNU-INWEH
Professor Amir AghaKouchak’s research is at the forefront of natural hazards and climate extremes, integrating disciplines of hydrology, climatology, and remote sensing. At UNU-INWEH he serves as the Water, Climate and Infrastructure Risk Lead. A primary focus of his work at UNU-INWEH lies in unraveling the intricate interplay between various climatic and non-climatic hazards, including the complex dynamics of compound and cascading hazards, to project the risk of such hazards and their impact on critical infrastructure.
Over his academic career, Prof. AghaKouchak has pioneered the development of models for assessing climate-related risks and hydrologic hazards. His research at the nexus of climate science and engineering has led to groundbreaking modeling frameworks for evaluating the vulnerability of infrastructure to current and future climate conditions.
He is a Fellow of both the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the Environmental & Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He has over 230 peer-reviewed research articles and his contributions to the field have earned him prestigious accolades from the world’s leading scientific and professional organizations, including AGU’s Macelwane Medal, ASCE’s Norman Medal, and Huber Research Prize.
As the principal investigator for numerous interdisciplinary research grants funded by major funding institutions such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Prof. AghaKpuchak’s research has played an instrumental role in advancing o the understanding of climate extremes, and critical environmental challenges.
Currently, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Earth’s Future, a transdisciplinary scientific journal that scrutinizes the state of our planet and delves into the science of the Anthropocene. In addition to his role at UNU-INWEH, he holds positions as a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine.