Prof. Vimal Mishra, Department of  Civil Engineering, IIT Gandhinagar gave a talk on on 1 February on  Tackling the flood challenge in India.

 Prof. Mishra pursues research in diverse interdisciplinary areas like surface water hydrology, climate variability and climate change, global food and water security, water resources management, and large-scale hydrologic modelling. In detail, Prof. Mishra’s research focuses on understanding the impacts of climate variability and climate change on various aspects (e.g. water resources, energy, infrastructure, and food security) related to humans and society. He integrates observed and remotely sensed datasets with large-scale hydrologic modelling to answer important questions about human-climate interactions.  In addition, Professor Mishra’s lab at IITGN has also made significant contributions to developing real-time monitoring and prediction systems for droughts and floods in India. 

He has over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, including in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Geophysical Research, Water Resources Research, Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, Earth’s Future and Environmental Research Letters. For his research work, he has been bestowed with India’s topmost science award – the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 2022 by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India. Prof Mishra is the sole awardee in the Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences category for 2022. 

The award recognises his outstanding contributions to examining the role of anthropogenic and natural factors in India’s hydrologic extremes and water resources. He was honoured with the Purdue University Lynn Fellowship, Max Planck Fellowship, And German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Fellowship. 

He is a member of the European Drought Centre (EDC), Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON), American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Meteorological Society (AMS), and International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS). 

February 2024