WRESD2024

Keynote Speakers

Levent Kavvas

Research field： Mathematical modeling of the integrated hydrologic- atmospheric processes at global, continental, country and watershed scales for the simulation and prediction of hydrologic water balances and hydrologic extremes toward quantifying phenomena such as floo

Professor, University of California, USA

Dr. Kavvas graduated with a master's degree in Civil Engineering, in the Hydrology and Water Resources Program, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado (as Fulbright Scholar). And he received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in the Hydraulics and Systems area of Purdue University, W. Lafayette, Indiana (as Fulbright Scholar and Purdue University Victor O 'Schaunessy Fellow). Dr. Kavvas received ASCE/EWRI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023, Distinguished Member of ASCE 2016 Croess Medal from ASCE in 2019, Best Paper award from ASCE JHE in 2016, International Award from The Japan Society of Hydrology and Water  in 2015. And he served as chair of the national review panel for the review of the internal USDA/ARS projects, chair of ASCE/EWRI Hydroclimate Committee, vice chair of ASCE/EWRI Watershed Council, and member of California Climate Change Advisory Board. In addition, Dr. Kavvas has served as editor-in-chief and on the editorial boards of several journals, including Hydrological Sciences Journal, Journal of Hydrology, Advances in Water Resources, and Journal of Stochastic Hydrology and Hydraulics.

John Zhou

Research field： Eenvironmental sampling, Trace analysis, Remote sensing of vehicle emissions, Advanced wastewater treatment using chemical oxidation, Reduction by nano zero-valent iron, Adsorption, Biodegradation and photocatalysis, Energy recovery from waste.

Professor, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

After receiving his PhD in Environmental Technology from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1991, Professor John Zhou worked as a Reader at the University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom from 1999 to 2010, and as a Professor at London South Bank University, London, United Kingdom from 2010 to 2014. John Zhou is currently a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, and is engaged in scientific research in the UK and Australia. His Research interests are water and wastewater treatment technology, renewable energy generation, remote sensing of vehicle emissions, environmental processes and contaminated land remediation. He served as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1997, became a member of the International Water Association in 1991, and obtained fellow membership of the Higher Education Academy. Professor John Zhou also serves as a Peer Reviewer for the following journals: Science, Nature, Sustainability, Chemical Society Review, Applied Catalysis B, Environmental, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Water Research, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Environmental Science and Technology. Professor John Zhou has published more than 300 papers in international journals, and at the same time participated in a number of international academic conferences and delivered speeches.

Hossam Gaber

Research field： Advanced waste-to-energy technology, clean technology energy engineering, information technology, nuclear engineering, plant engineering and operations, plasma generation and diagnostics, safety engineering, smart grid transportation.

Professor, Ontario Tech University, Canada.

Dr. Gabbar is a full Professor in the Department of Energy and Nuclear Engineering, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, at Ontario Tech University (UOIT), where he has established the Energy Safety and Control Lab (ESCL), Smart Energy Systems Lab, and Advanced Plasma Engineering Lab. He is the recipient of the Senior Research Excellence Aware for 2016, UOIT. He is recognized among the top 2% of worldwide scientists with high citation in the area of energy. He is a Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE NPSS. He is leading national and international research in the areas of smart energy grids, energy safety and control systems, and waste to energy using advanced plasma technologies. Dr. Gabbar obtained his B.Sc. degree in 1988 with first class of honor from the Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University (Egypt). In 2001, he obtained his Ph.D. degree from Okayama University (Japan). From 2001 till 2004, he joined Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan), as a research associate. From 2004 till 2008, he joined Okayama University (Japan) as an Associate Professor, in the Division of Industrial Innovation Sciences. From 2007 till 2008, he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto. He also worked as process control, safety, and automation specialist in energy and oil & gas industries. Dr. Gabbar has more than 230 publications, including patents, books / chapters, journal, and conference papers.

Minh Tan VU

Research field： Modeling of hydrologic processes at various scales from basins to a global context, Prediction of hydrodynamics in groundwater systems and surface waters.

Researcher, University of Rouen Normandy, France

Dr. VU is a dedicated researcher with a strong focus on hydrology and environmental science. His research interests encompass a wide range of topics, and he is particularly passionate about integrating hydrologic and atmospheric processes through advanced deep learning techniques, utilizing data from both field observations and satellite sources. With a wealth of experience in academia, Dr. VU has served as an effective lecturer and has guided numerous Ph.D. and MSc students in their studies, emphasizing the application of Artificial Intelligence in the fields of Hydrology and Environmental Science. The impact of Dr. VU's research has been widely recognized, with the results of his work published in over 40 international journals and conferences. His expertise extends beyond research, as he has also made significant contributions as a reviewer for about 20 peer-reviewed journals in the domains of hydrology, water resources, and hydro-informatics. Dr. VU's dedication to knowledge sharing and collaboration has been further exemplified by his role as a visiting professor at Stanford University, where he served as a Fulbright Scholar. Through his extensive academic and research endeavors, Dr. VU continues to advance our understanding of hydrologic processes, bridging the gap between theory and practice, and contributing significantly to the fields of hydrology and environmental science.

Carla Ferreira

Research field： Soil and water degradation processes, Impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on land, Nature-based solutions and ecosystem services, Sustainable land-use planning.

Researcher, Stockholm University, Sweden

Dr. Carla Ferreira is a research fellow at the Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University. She got a European PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from Aveiro University, Portugal. in 2015, she has worked in several research projects at Polytechnique Institute of Coimbra, Portugal, and Swansea University, UK, since my graduation in 2005. Her main research interests include soil and water degradation processes, impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on land, nature-based solutions and ecosystem services, and sustainable land-use planning. Dr. Carla Ferreira has participated in several projects as a researcher: 2021-2022: Urban flood risk: multiple effects of nature-based vs technology-based solutions; 2020-2022: Water and sediment fluxes within urban and peri -urban areas; 2017-2020: The influence of landscape mosaics on flow and sediment connectivity in peri-urban catchments, etc. At the same time, she has also published in many international journals (such as Geography and Sustainability, Eurasian Journal of Soil Science) serves as Managing Editor and editorial board member, etc.

Collin G. Joseph

Research field： Adsorption, Materials chemistry, Heterogeneous catalysis, Thin films, Wastewater treatment, Material characterization, Kinetics, Catalyst characterization, Catalyst synthesis, Nanomaterials.

Associate Professor, University Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia.

Collin G. Joseph is a Professional Chemist and an Associate Professor in the Industrial Chemistry Program of University Malaysia Sabah, which he joined as an academician in 2003. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nottingham, UK in 2011 and to-date he has received several Excellence and Service awards as well as research and innovation Gold Medals in MTE, ITEX and PEREKA research competitions. He is an accomplished researcher and author in the field of Adsorbent Technology, Sonophotochemistry and Ozone Chemistry research. In 2014, he established the Sonophotochemistry Research Group and has served as the Head of Sonophotochemistry Research Group ever since. He served as the Head of the Industrial Chemistry Programme from 2020 -2023 at the Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Due to his outstanding accomplishments in the field of Chemistry, he has been invited by many Tier 1 journals to serve as a reviewer under various publishers such as Elsevier B.V, Springer and Taylor & Francis. He is also frequently invited as a speaker and keynote speaker at international conferences and as research collaborators with local and international universities. He sits on the Editorial board of the Malaysian Journal of Chemistry (ISSN: 2550-1658), as a Review Editor on the Editorial Board of Photocatalysis (Frontiers of Chemistry (ISSN: 2296-2646)) and serves as a Guest Editor for Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). His current (13-11-2023) Google Scholar h-index is 18 with 2190 citations. Due to his outstanding contributions to the Malaysian Institute of Chemistry, he was awarded Fellowship of the Malaysian Institute of Chemistry (highest award) in 2021. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society and Majlis Profesor Negara. He serves as a volunteer and committee member (Life-time member) with MERCY Malaysia and the UMS4WDVC, carrying out various community-based services in contribution to the state and people of Sabah, Malaysia.

Seyed Hamidreza Sadeghi

Research field： Soil Conservation, Watershed Management, Watershed Hydrology, Soil, Hydrology, Integrated Water Resources Management, Surface Hydrology, Soil and Water Conservation, Rainfall Runoff Modelling, Water Balance.

Professor, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran.

Professor Dr. Seyed Hamidreza Sadeghi completed his A.Sc., B.Sc. and M.Sc. at Giulan, Gorgan and Tarbiat Modares Universities, Iran, in Watershed Management Engineering in 1987, 1990 and 1993, respectively. He did his Ph.D. in Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, College of Technology at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, India, in late 2000. He also was awarded by the Matsumae International Foundation (MIF), Japan, to conduct his post-doctoral program at Kyoto University (SABO Lab) on suspended sediment yield mechanism in forest watershed in 2006. He has started giving lectures at many Iranian varsities since 1993. He has published and contributed some 14 books, some 4 book chapters, some 330 papers in Iranian and international journals in field of soil erosion and sediment yield modeling, hydrologic processes, and watershed management. He has also contributed more than 330 papers in national and international scientific gatherings. He supervised or co-supervised about 100 MSc and PhD students. Dr. Sadeghi has also been evaluated and accordingly awarded as recognized professor and head for frequent educational years. Professor Sadeghi is a member of many scientific societies and the president of Watershed Management Society of Iran as well as deputy president of World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC). He also is a reviewer for more than 85, Editor-in-Chief of ECOPERSIA, Associate Editor of International Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Research (IJSWCR), Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology (JAST) and Land Degradation and Development (LDD) as well as Managing Editor of Ecohydrology and Land Degradation and Reclamation journals.

Omid Rahmati

Research field： Watershed management, Natural hazards-monitoring, modeling, and mitigation, Natural resources planning, Soil conservation and sediment control, Sustainable development.

Assistant professor, Agricultural Research Education And Extention Organization (AREEO), Iran.

Dr. Omid Rahmati has widespread research interests in the application and development of artificial intelligence approaches and remote sensing techniques in water resources management, water-related disasters, and environmental sustainability. Most of his research activities focus on risk analysis, spatial modeling, uncertainty, and decision-making. Dr. Rahmati has written several books and book chapters that are taught in universities. Toward science communication, Dr.Omid Rahmati serve in editorial roles for international journals: 1. The guest editor in Remote Sensing, special issues: "Remote Sensing of Water Resources Monitoring, Parametrization and Modeling"; 2. The guest editor in Remote Sensing, special issues: "GeoAI: Integration of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning with Remote Sensing"; 3. The guest editor in Sustainability, special issues: "Artificial Intelligence Pathway for Environmental Sustainability: Monitoring, Modeling, and Decision Making".; 4. The guest editor in Remote Sensing, special issues: "Geocomputation Using Remote Sensing Techniques Under Data-Scarcity Conditions"; 5. The guest editor in Land, special issues: "Watershed Processes in the Face of Dynamic Landscapes and Climate Change"; In addition, He review papers for several high-quality journals such as Journal of Hydrology, Catena, Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, Science of the Total Environment, Journal of Environmental Management, Natural Resources Research, Natural Hazards, Land Degradation and Development, and Geoscience Frontiers. He has published over 80 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and has been cited over 8000 times (H-index = 47). Most importantly, he has been selected as the Highly Cited Researchers (the world’s top 0.1% scientists) in 2022 and 2023 based on the Web of Science (Clarivate) who has demonstrated broad and significant influence reflected in his publications over the last decade.

Adenike Akinsemolu

Research field： Sustainable development, Climate change, Microorganisms, Biological sciences, Green education.

Senior Researcher, Afe Babalola University, Nigeria.

Adenike Akinsemolu is a Vanguard Fellow at the University of Birmingham, a Senior Research Fellow at Afe Babalola University, and the director of the Green Institute. She is an expert in the field of environmental sustainability with over 10 years of experience in education and research. Adenike is a National Geographic Educator and a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. She is committed to finding bold and effective solutions to complex challenges, including the fight against climate change. Adenike has a deep passion for promoting sustainable practices and solutions for organizations and communities, and she has a strong track record of success in developing and implementing sustainable initiatives. In addition to her work as an educator and researcher, Adenike is also the author of several books on sustainability, including "Principles of Green and Sustainability Science (Springer 2020)," "Biological Science, A Concise Introduction (The Green Institute, 2022)," and "An Introduction to Green Education (National Geographic, 2022)." She is always looking for opportunities to collaborate and share her knowledge and expertise with others who are committed to protecting the environment.