Rajagopalan Balaji News

Remembering Hari Rajaram—a legacy of intellect, humility and warmth

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 18:41:49 +0000

Remembering Hari Rajaram—a legacy of intellect, humility and warmth Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/18/2024 - 12:41

Susan Glairon

Photo caption: The CU Boulder Water Group at Hari Rajaram's 2018 going-away party. From left to right, Joseph Kasprzyk, John Crimaldi, Rajagopalan Balaji, Edie Zagona, Hari Rajaram and Roseanna Neupauer. Photo courtesy Roseanna Neupauer.

Hari Rajaram, a beloved former faculty member in CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CEAE), died unexpectedly on July 4 at his home in Baltimore. He was 59 years old.

Rajaram was globally recognized as a prominent figure in the field of environmental and Earth systems, known for his innovative use of mathematical models to understand and predict complex environmental phenomena. He was also a world-renowned expert in hydrology.

In the department, he was affectionately called the “historian” for his phenomenal memory and revered for his methodical, well-organized teaching likened to a “precisely orchestrated symphony.” He was celebrated not just as a researcher, but also as an exceptional teacher, mentor, friend and role model.

“Hari was that rare individual who combined strong intellect with humility and warmth,” said CEAE Professor Rajagopalan Balaji. “He had an attitude of selfless service, remained even tempered and empathetic and was an all-around wonderful human being.”

Balaji shared that he frequently met with Rajaram during his tenure as department chair (2014-2022), “to seek his thoughtful counsel.”

“Hari consistently advocated for and championed quality over quantity, providing an important voice,” he said.

Professor Emerita JoAnn Silverstein, who worked with Rajaram for 20 years, highlighted his impact during her eight years as department chair (2002 – 2010) when Rajaram served as the associate chair.

"Hari led numerous challenging tasks in service of the department, and I can’t recall any contentious issue that he could not resolve with his empathy, insight and sense of humor," she said. "That Hari embodied all the best facets of academic life was a source of inspiration to me and countless others."

CEAE Professor Roseanna Neupauer, who first met Rajaram when they were graduate students at MIT, echoed Silverstein's and Balaji’s sentiments.

“Hari had absolutely no ego and possessed a strong desire to uplift his community and every individual. With his clarity of mind to see the big picture, he approached contentious issues with a calm demeanor, grace and diplomacy, offering well-reasoned solutions that everyone could agree on. He was an outstanding teacher, patient and encouraging with all his students.”

Balaji said Rajaram was the search committee chair who recruited him, and later Neupauer.

“He is the reason we ended up at CU,” Balaji said.

Rajaram (back/center) stopped by Balaji's (right) home in July 2022 when he was driving his son, Vinu, to Berkeley to start his PhD. Balaji's uncle (left), daughters and Vinu are also pictured. Photo courtesy Rajagopalan Balaji.

A distinguished career

At CU Boulder, Rajaram was hired as an assistant professor in 1993 and rose to the rank as a professor of civil engineering in 2004, also serving as the department’s associate chair from 2006-2008. He received numerous teaching awards, including being named a President’s Teaching Scholar —the highest teaching honor in the CU system. He won nearly every award in the CEAE department from research to outstanding teaching.

Also while at CU Boulder, Rajaram received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1998), collaborated with many CEAE faculty on various projects and served as the editor of the premier journal “Water Resources Research'' from 2013-2017.

In 2018, Rajaram moved to the Johns Hopkins Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and had served as deputy chair since that time. He was the editor-in-chief of “Geophysical Research Letters” from 2019 until his passing, and he was recently elected as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

Rajaram began his academic journey at the Indian Institute of Technology, in Madras, where he earned a Bachelor of Technology. He later pursued his MS at the University of Iowa. In 1991, he obtained his PhD in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following his doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University in the Department of Civil Engineering and Operations Research.

Neupauer shared a story from their time together as graduate students at MIT.

“About 10 years ago, a group of CU Boulder graduate students taking classes from both Hari and me discovered that when Hari and I were graduate students at MIT, we were finalists in an Irish jig competition at our lab's St. Patrick's Day party. When they asked Hari about the competition, he claimed he couldn't remember who won,” Neupauer said.

“Of course, this meant that Hari had won—because he never forgot anything and wouldn't want to brag,” she said.

Balaji also called Rajaram’s memory “phenomenal.”

“In almost all the conversations he brought a relevant historical perspective,” he said. “Even in technical discussions he would quote classic papers to offer richer insights. This was uniquely and quintessentially Hari.

"I will miss him.”

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CU Boulder secures $750K to improve drought preparedness in Western U.S.

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 18:52:18 +0000

CU Boulder secures $750K to improve drought preparedness in Western U.S. Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/25/2024 - 12:52

Susan Glairon

The �ֲ��ý Boulder has earned a major grant to boost drought monitoring and prediction on the Colorado River.

The $750,000 award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) on campus and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CEAE) is part of $4.9 million in funding being distributed nationally by the Biden-Harris Administration to help western communities better prepare for droughts.

The project, “Improving Hydroclimate Forecasts by Multi-Model Combination Approaches for Enhanced Reservoir Operations on the Colorado River,” aims to develop models that will help water managers and stakeholders enhance the reliability of water supply in the Colorado River Basin. CEAE Professor Rajagopalan Balaji, who is also a CIRES fellow, serves as the principal investigator of the project.

Balaji said the Colorado River’s water supply, the "lifeblood of the southwestern U.S. socio-economy," has been under severe stress since 2000 due to streamflow reduction from the Millennium Drought and increasing demand.

“The lack of skillful streamflow forecasts beyond a season has likely contributed to suboptimal water management during this prolonged dry period, exacerbating the water supply stress,” he said. “Developing a skillful streamflow forecasting system is crucial for enabling efficient water resource management and ensuring a sustainable and reliable water supply in the river basin.”

The CEAE-led project will develop new Colorado River Basin streamflow forecast models at 0-24 months lead time. The project will use NOAA’s advanced seasonal prediction systems and new machine learning techniques to improve lead predictions key to water management in the Basin. In addition, the forecasts will be used in the Colorado River Basin Operational Prediction Testbed and with stakeholder engagement to enable efficient water resources decisions.

Additional collaborators on the project include the CU Boulder Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems, NOAA Climate Prediction Center, NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, the US Bureau of Reclamation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

CU Boulder has received $750,000 from a NOAA grant to enhance drought monitoring and prediction on the Colorado River. The award, part of a $4.9 million initiative by the Biden-Harris Administration, supports efforts led by CIRES and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering.

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Rajagopalan Balaji elected fellow of ASCE

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 18:02:48 +0000

Rajagopalan Balaji elected fellow of ASCE Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/13/2023 - 11:02

Susan Glairon

Rajagopalan Balaji, a professor of civil engineering and fellow of the Cooperative Institute of Research in Environmental Sciences at the �ֲ��ý Boulder, has been named a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Board of Direction. This prestigious recognition, awarded to only three percent of ASCE members, is "for celebrated contributions and developing creative solutions that change lives around the world."

Balaji’s specialization is hydroclimate variability and impacts on socio-economic infrastructure using statistical learning methods. His research is interdisciplinary, which focuses on understanding the drivers of year-to-year and multidecadal variability of regional hydrology (i.e., precipitation, streamflow, etc.), developing ensemble forecasting and coupling them to decision support systems for water resources management, drinking water quality, wastewater treatment resiliency, building systems energy, construction delay management due to weather and climate and agriculture management.

A faculty member at the �ֲ��ý Boulder since 2000, Balaji also served as the chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering from 2014 to 2022. Prior to joining the university, he was on the research faculty at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York from 1995 to 2000.

Civil Engineering Source article 11.16.23

Rajagopalan Balaji, a professor of civil engineering, has been named a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Board of Direction. This prestigious recognition, awarded to only three percent of ASCE members, is "for celebrated contributions and developing creative solutions that change lives around the world."

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Unlocking the monsoon mystery and its impact on society

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 20:01:27 +0000

Unlocking the monsoon mystery and its impact on society Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/06/2023 - 14:01

Susan Glairon

Balaji Rajagopalan grew up in a small railroad town near Hyderabad, India, in a home without running water. At night, the sound of water would often awaken him, prompting him to rush with cooking pots to collect water spurting from a pipe in the backyard. During the dry season, the pipe often ran dry, forcing him and his neighbors to queue up to manually pump a single bucket of groundwater.

Now a CU Boulder professor of civil engineering and an expert in hydrology, climatology and water resources, Rajagopalan was recently honored with a Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship and an opportunity to make a difference in his native country.

His Fulbright work in India centers around developing monsoon forecasting models to aid residents in flood preparedness; exploring the intricate interplay between monsoonal climate and public health; and unraveling the monsoon variability over a timeframe of 5,000 to 10,000 years, along with its role in the peopling of the Indian subcontinent.

“I want to give back,” said Rajagopalan, a first-generation college graduate. “The areas I am working on — climate and water — are central here.”

Starting in August, he will spend four to six months over a two-year period at four host institutions — the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, as well as Gandhinagar, Roorkee and Ashoka Universities. He plans to foster collaborations among these and other institutions in India and facilitate research exchanges between the universities in India and CU Boulder.

Having served as the chair of CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Rajagopalan is also excited to observe how some of India’s top institutions teach civil engineering and to mentor and engage with early career scientists, including students and faculty.

Monsoon clouds arriving at Port Blair, Andaman, India. Photo Credit: RIDHVAN SHARMA

Fascination of the Monsoon

For more than 20 years, Rajagopalan has dedicated his research to understanding and modeling the variability and predictability of flow in the Colorado River and the Indian monsoon.

He wonders aloud why the amount of water in the Colorado River has been declining for more than two decades and whether the decline is random or hints at a more systematic global climate pattern. He raises the same question about annual fluctuations in the Indian monsoon rainfall.

“Those questions fascinate me,” he said. “Both the Colorado River and the Indian monsoon are the lifeblood of the societies that depend on them.”

He recalls that in the late 19th century, during the British colonial rule of India, the monsoon mercilessly failed, leading to a devastating famine that claimed the lives of millions. In the wake of this catastrophic event, the British colonials established the Indian meteorological department to study the monsoon. Since then, there’s been more than a century of studies to understand this climatic phenomenon.

“But still, there are many more questions,” he says. “That’s the fascination of the monsoon.”

Flooding in Mumbai, India, 2017. Photo credit Paasikivi

Flood Forecasting

Rajagopalan points out a challenge specific to India: During the monsoon months of June, July and August, precipitation falls as water rather than being stored as snow, as happens in Colorado. Without sufficient infrastructure to store and manage the excess water, much of it will flood the landscape and drain into the adjoining seas, he says.

He emphasizes the pressing need for improving flood forecasting in India, given the significant percentage of the population that lives near rivers.

Reliable forecasts would enable disaster managers to make well-informed decisions regarding public evacuations. Planning agencies could prepare in advance if they knew whether the upcoming season would bring above-average rainfall. Similarly, reservoir managers need that information before the monsoon season begins to anticipate the volume of water they may collect and whether they need to open gates early to create additional capacity.

At the seasonal time scale, the significance of an accurate monsoon rainfall forecast has broad implications. A forecast indicating a below-normal summer monsoon season can exert pressure on agriculture commodities, resulting in reduced spending capacity for individuals. Farmers rely on these forecasts to make informed decisions regarding agriculture, either by cultivating more drought-resistant crops or by irrigating.

Rajagopalan also highlights the importance of data modeling and understanding the underlying physics behind floods and droughts to develop effective forecasting tools.

“Developing predictive tools is of huge importance for anywhere, but especially for India as the monsoon rainfall drives agriculture, water resources, ecology and public health,” he says. “The monsoon threads through the entire socio-economic fabric.”

Public Health

“Everything is connected to the monsoon in some way,” Rajagopalan said.

India, in particular, remains highly vulnerable to the monsoon’s variability, and the impact extends beyond floods or droughts. The monsoons also affect water quality, public health, agricultural output and even the Indian stock market, he says.

Weaker rainfall directly impacts the country’s GDP, given that at least 50 percent of the population resides in villages heavily reliant on agriculture. Crop failures often drive rural residents to migrate to urban areas in search of employment, placing sudden strain on urban resources. This has an impact on nutrition, poverty and public health, he says.

During his research, Rajagopalan will delve into the profound impact of monsoons on public health. Monsoonal rains create stagnant water in ponds, providing ideal breeding grounds for malaria and dengue in disease-carrying mosquitoes. Additionally, poor water quality during this period contributes to illnesses like diarrhea.

“There is a direct link between monsoon rainfall and public health, and that is a whole new and important area to climate connection, " he said.

Monsoons over time

The third aspect of Rajagopalan’s research involves studying the monsoon’s variability across the current geological epoch, known as the Holocene period. Gaining insight into the monsoon’s fluctuation throughout this 5,000- to 10,000-year time period can unlock the secrets behind the rise and fall of societies, and human migration, Rajagopalan said.

Civilizations typically flourished during robust monsoons and declined when the monsoons became weaker. Combining statistical methods with contemporary and ocean sediment core data, his research aims to reconstruct the variability of climate and vegetation over Indian subcontinent and Eurasia during the Holocene. This will be used to understand the role of climate in the migration of societies during this period.

“People move for all kinds of reasons, but often climate tends to be the catalyst, even in contemporary times,” he said. “Even through civil wars, people tend to stay. The natural human tendency is to live where one grew up and among familiar surroundings.”

Water Resources Professor Balaji Rajagopalan grew up in a small railroad town near Hyderabad, India, in a home without running water. Now an expert in hydrology, climatology and water resources, Rajagopalan was recently honored with a Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship and an opportunity to make a difference in his native country.

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Satellites reveal widespread decline in global lake water storage

Anonymous — Thu, 18 May 2023 18:52:25 +0000

Satellites reveal widespread decline in global lake water storage Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/18/2023 - 12:52

More than 50 percent of the largest lakes in the world are losing water, according to a groundbreaking new assessment published today in Science. The article was coauthored by Professor Balaji Rajagopalan and Associate Professor Ben Livneh, both from CU Boulder's Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. Fangfang Yao, a CIRES visiting scholar, was the lead author.

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Research in Focus: Climate Variability Past & Present with Rajagopalan Balaji

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:26:27 +0000

Research in Focus: Climate Variability Past & Present with Rajagopalan Balaji Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/10/2022 - 13:26

Rajagopalan Balaji is a �ֲ��ý Boulder professor and chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, and he is changing the way we see climate change.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGC3Awsy61k]

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