Members

  Current 

Safeeq Khan, PhD

Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Merced

Director FEWS Lab

Education:
       Ph.D.,        2010 — University of Hawaii- Manoa
       M.Tech.,   2005 — Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
       B.Tech.,    2003 — CSA University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur
Research Interests:

  • Disturbance & Global Change Hydrology
  • Integrated Modeling
  • Nature-Based Climate Solutions (NbS)
  • Remote Sensing for Hydrology
  • Climate Change

Office: SRE 423
Email: msafeeq@ucmerced.edu
Phone: (209) 386-3623

Abhishek Chakraborty, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scholar,  Sierra Nevada Research Institute
Education:
     Ph.D., 2024 —Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science, India.
     M. Tech. , 2018 —Water Resources Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India.
     B.Tech.,     2015—Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology University, India.

Research Interests:

  • Terrestrial carbon cycle
  • Ecosystem resilience
  • Disturbance ecology
  • Ecohydrology
  • Remote sensing modeling

Office: SRE 445-A
Email: achakraborty8@ucmerced.edu

Saswata Nandi, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scholar,  Sierra Nevada Research Institute
Education:
       Ph.D.,     2022 —Water Res. Engg. Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay, India
       M. E.      2015 —Water Res. Engg. Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, India
       B.Tech.,     2013—Civil Engineering, Jalpaiguri Govt Engineering College, India
Research Interests:

  • Rainfall Runoff Modelling
  • Climate Change Impacts
  • Soft Computing/Optimization
  • Flood Modelling
  • Machine Learning in Water Science

Office: SRE 417
Email: snandi4@ucmerced.edu

 

Rui Gao, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scholar,  Civil and Environmental Engineering
Education:
     Ph.D. 2023—Utah State University, Logan, Utah, the United States. Civil and Environmental Engineering.
     M.S. 2017—Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, China. Hydraulic and Civil Engineering.
     B.S. 2014—Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, China. Hydraulic and Civil Engineering.
     Visiting scholar 2012—Hohai University, Nanjing, China. Hydrology and Water Resources.
Research Interests:

  • Agrohydrolog
  • Evapotranspiration
  • UAVs

Office: SRE 417
Email: ruigao@ucmerced.edu

Philip Myint, PhD

Visiting Scholar, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Research Interests:

  • Earth Systems Modeling
  • Biogeochemistry
  • HPC

Office: SRE 445
Email: pmyint@ucmerced.edu

Marcelino Vialpando

PhD Student & Graduate Research Assistant, Environmental Systems
Education:
     M.S.,    2018 —Earth and Environmental Sciences, California State University East Bay
     B.S.,     2011 —Earth and Planetary Sciences (Geology), University of New Mexico 
    A.S.,     2011 —Physical Science. Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe NM
Research Interests:

  • Climate Change Impacts
  • Flood Modelling
  • Machine Learning in Water Science

Office: SRE 424-01
Email:mvialpando@ucmerced.edu

 

Nigar Fatima Mirza  

PhD Student & Graduate Research Assistant, Environmental Systems
Education:
     M.S.,    2024 —Environmental Sciences, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
     B.S.,     2022 —Environmental Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Research Interests:

  • Surface water sampling and monitoring
  • Watershed hydrology and water resource management
  • Hydrological and remote sensing modeling
  • Evapotranspiration dynamics in changing climates
  • Wildfire impacts on water quality and ecosystem resilience

Office: SRE 416-01

Email:nigarfatima@ucmerced.edu

Sahir Azam Shad 

PhD Student & Graduate Research Assistant, Environmental Systems
Education:
     M.Tech.,    2021 —Civil Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
     B.Tech.,     2018 —Civil Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
Research Interests:
     -Water Resources Engineering
     -Agrohydrology
     -Isotope Hydrology

Office: SRE 416-02
Email:sahirazamshad@ucmerced.edu

Berhanu Sinshaw 

PhD Candidate & Graduate Research Assistant, Environmental Systems
Education:
     M.S.,    2018 —Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology 
     B.S.,     2014 —Water Resources & Irrigation Management, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology 
Research Interests:
     -Hydrologic Modeling
     -Climate Change
     -Land Use Change
Office: SRE 424-02
Email:bsinshaw@ucmerced.edu 

Cameron Zuber 

PhD Candidate, Environmental Systems  
Education:

     M.S.,     2022 —Environmental System, UC Merced
     B.S.,     2007 —Environmental Biology and Management, UC Davis
Research Interests:
     -Agriculture Water Management
     -Agroecology
     -Soil Health
Office: SRE 416-01
Email: czuber@ucmerced.edu 

 

Past Members

 

Anshika Kandhway, PhD

Title: PhD Student (2019-2024) 

Current Position: Senior Data AnalystGFL Environmental Inc.

Stefano Casirati, PhD 

Title: PhD Student (2018-2023) 

Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, UC Berkeley

Aliva Nanda, PhD

Title: Postdoctoral Research Scholar (2021-2024) 

Current Position: Assistant Professor, IIT Mandi

Vivek Gupta, PhD

Title: Postdoctoral Research Scholar (2021-2022) 

Current Position: Assistant Professor, IIT Mandi

Ryan Bart, PhD

Title: Professional Researcher (2018-2024) 

Current Position: Scientist at California Air Resources Control Board

Max Eriksson, PhD

Title: Project Scientist (2020-2023) 

Current Position: Researcher at Brussels School of Governance, Belgium

Chandan Singh, PhD

Title: Postdoctoral Research Scholar (2018-2020) 

Current Position: Assistant Professor, NIT Raipur, India

Weichao Guo, PhD

Title: Postdoctoral Research Scholar (2018-2023) 

Current Position: Independent Consultant

 

Phil Saksa, PhD

Title: Associate Specialist (2015-2016)

Current Position: Chief Scientist, Blue Forest Conservation

Mohammad Sohrabi, PhD

Title: Postdoctoral Research Scholar (2016-2018)

Current Position: Hydrologist and Water Resources Engineer, CA Water Resources Control Board.

Patrick Womble

Title: Staff Research Associate III, Sierra Nevada Research Institute

Current Position: Project Manager, Regional Waste Authority, Merced, CA 95348