Rajagopalanج‎Balaji

  • Professor
  • HYDROLOGY, WATER RESOURCES, & ENVIRONMENTAL FLUID MECHANICS
  • CIVIL SYSTEMS
Balaji in a button-down shirt with mountains in the background

Balaji is a CEAE professor with expertise in global hydroclimatology, water resources management, large scale statistical analysis and modeling. He is the former chair of CEAE (2014 – 2022) and has received multiple awards for his pioneering research on the Colorado River water resource management and Indian summer monsoon variability. Additional information about Balaji.

Education:

  • B.Tech. in Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, India, 1989
  • M.Tech. in Operations 91أغجز¸َ and Reliability, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, India, 1991
  • Ph.D. in Stochastic Hydrology and Water Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 1995

Honors and Distinctions:

  • Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship,ج‎US Department of State, 2023
  • Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers,ج‎2023
  • Fellow,ج‎American Geophysical Union,ج‎2018
  • College 91أغجز¸َ Award,ج‎College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 91أغجز¸َ, 91أغجز¸َ, CO, 2014
  • Department Service Award,ج‎Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, 91أغجز¸َ, 91أغجز¸َ, CO, 2013
  • Department Distinguished Achievement Award,ج‎Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, 91أغجز¸َ, 91أغجز¸َ, CO, 2010
  • Department of Interior,ج‎Partners in conservation award – part of the group that played a role in the adoption of innovative, new operational guidelines for managing the Colorado River in drought years. Award presented to the group by the secretary of Interior in Washington D.C. on May 6, 2009
  • World Meteorological Organization Norbert Gerbier – MUMM International Award for 2009,ج‎for the paper entitled “Unraveling the Mystery of Indian Monsoon Failure During El Ninoâ€‌, published in SCIENCE, Vol. 314, 6 October 2006.
  • Department 91أغجز¸َ Development Award,ج‎Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, 91أغجز¸َ, 2006
  • Department Young 91أغجز¸َer Award,ج‎Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, 91أغجز¸َ, 2003
    ج‎

Professional Affiliations:

  • American Geophysical Union
  • American Society of Civil Engineers

Interests:

  • Understanding and modeling space-time variability of hydroclimatology and extremes
  • Bayesian hierarchical and statistical learning methods for climate, hydrology, ecology, water and wastewater quality, ecology, public health, human migration, construction safety risk and others
  • Incorporating climate information in water resources/hydrologic decision making
  • Paleoclimate reconstruction and their signatures on human migration and rise and fall of societies