Tirthankar Roy
John E. Olsson Associate Professor (Tenured)
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
School of Computing (By Courtesy)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
Faculty Fellow, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute
Fellow, Nebraska Transportation Center
Fellow, National Strategic Research Institute
Professional Preparation
- PostDoc: 2017-2019, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, USA. Mentor: Eric Wood
- PhD: 2013-2017, Hydrology (Minor in Civil Engineering), University of Arizona, USA. Mentors: Hoshin Gupta, Juan Valdes, Aleix Serrat-Capdevila
- MTech: 2010-2012, Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. DAAD Scholar: Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. Mentor: Niels Schütze
- BTech: 2006-2010, Agricultural Engineering, Bidhan Chandra Agricultural University, India
Certificates
- Teaching Transcript: 2019, Pedagogy Training and Formal Teaching Experience, Princeton University, USA
Academic Experience
- John E. Olsson Associate Professor: 2026-present, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
- Associate Professor: 2025-present, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
- Assistant Professor: 2019-2025, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
- Postdoctoral Research Associate: 2017-2019, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, USA
- Assistant-in-Instruction: 2019, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, USA
- Project Associate: 2012-2013, Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India
Awards & Honors
- Research Leaders Program: University of Nebraska-Lincoln (cohort member), 2026
- Fellow: National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska, 2026
- Faculty Distinguished Research Award: UNL College of Engineering, 2026
- CAREER Award: National Science Foundation, 2025-2030
- Fellow: Nebraska Transportation Center, 2025-present
- Jim Dooge Award: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (co-author), 2024
- Best Case Study Award: ASCE-EWRI (co-author), 2023
- Research Excellence Award: UNL College of Engineering, 2022
- Teaching Excellence Recognition: UNL College of Engineering, 2022
- Hubbard Fellowship: Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, 2021
- Faculty Fellow: Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, 2020-present
- Research Development Fellow: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2020-2021
- Service Award: Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences Student Association President, University of Arizona, 2017
- Graduate Research Assistantship: University of Arizona, 2013-2017
- Best Poster Award: First Position (co-author), WRRC Annual Conference, Tucson, 2017
- Best Poster Award: Second Position (lead author), WRRC Annual Conference, Tucson, 2016
- Galileo Circle Scholarship: University of Arizona College of Science, 2016
- Delegate: from University of Arizona at One Young World Environment Summit, 2016
- Travel Grant: $500, University of Arizona Institute of the Environment, 2015
- Travel Grant: $490, University of Arizona Graduate and Professional Student Council, 2015
- Invited Member: Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, 2015
- Graduate College Fellowship: University of Arizona, 2014
- University Gold Medal: for highest undergraduate GPA, 2013
- Smt. Shishubala Memorial Gold Medal: for highest undergraduate GPA, 2013
- Certificate of Merit: for highest undergraduate GPA, 2013
- DAAD Scholarship: TU Dresden, Germany, 2011-2012
- Teaching Assistantship: Government of India MHRD, 2010-2011
- National Rank 40: GATE Exam in Agricultural Engineering, 2010
- University Merit Scholarship: undergraduate program, 2006-2010
- Certificate of Merit: National Merit Scholarship for 2003 West Bengal Secondary Exam, 2006
- State Rank 33: 2003 West Bengal Secondary Exam, 2003
Service Roles
- American Society of Civil Engineers: Member of the Risk, Uncertainty, and Probabilistic Approaches (RUPA) Committee, 2025-present
- Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Member of the Program Coordination Committee, Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems, University of Nebraska, 2024-2025
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Member of the Communications and Outreach Committee, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2023-present
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Member of the Graduate Committee, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2021-present
- American Geophysical Union: Member of the Technical Committee on Uncertainty Analysis, 2020-present
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Member of the Committee on Committees, 2020-2023
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Member of the Honors and Awards Committee, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2019-2023
- International Association of Hydrological Sciences: Member of the Early Career Committee, 2018-2022
- Princeton University: Member of the Postdoctoral Council, 2018-2019
- University of Arizona: President of the Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences Student Association, 2016-2017
- University of Arizona: Vice President of the Hydrology & Water Resources Student Association, 2014-2015
Synergistic Activities
- AGU Fall Meeting: Convener, session titled Understanding System Responses with Data, Models & AI, 2026
- Nebraska State Climate Report: Co-author, 2024-2025
- AGU Fall Meeting: Convener, sessions titled Critical Zone Response and Resilience to Wildfires, 2025
- HydroML Symposium: Organizing Committee Member, 2024
- AGU Fall Meeting: Convener, Two sessions titled Sensitivity, Uncertainty, and Testing of Earth and Environmental Models, 2023
- HydroML Symposium: Organizing Committee Member, 2023
- Nebraska Water Center Conference: Planning Committee Member, 2023
- University of Nebraska: Member, President’s Sustainability Council, 2022-2023
- AGU Fall Meeting: Convener, two sessions titled Catchment and Critical Zone Science – Understanding Ecosystems Through Monitoring, Analysis, and Experimentation, 2022
- HydroML Symposium: Organizing Committee Member, 2022
- IAHS Scientific Assembly: Convener, workshop titled How to write a proposal in Hydrology, 2022
- IAHS Scientific Assembly: Primary Convener, workshop titled Applications of satellite remote sensing in hydrological assessments, 2022
- AGU Fall Meeting: Primary Convener & Chair, three sessions titled Machine Learning Applications in Catchment Hydrology, 2021
- AGU Fall Meeting: Primary Convener & Chair, two sessions titled Novel hypotheses to advance hydrological process understanding at the catchment scale, 2020
- AGU Fall Meeting: Primary Convener & Chair, three sessions titled Advancing hydrologic process understanding across scales using new datasets and methods, 2019
- AGU Fall Meeting: Acting Convener, session titled Drought: Dynamics, Impacts, Resilience, and Adaptation III, 2019
- IUGG General Assembly: Co-Convener, workshop titled Science Communication, 2019
- IUGG General Assembly: Co-Convener, workshop titled Using R in Hydrology, 2019
- AGU Fall Meeting: Primary Convener & Chair, session titled Role of new datasets and analysis methods to advance hydrological process understanding at catchment scale, 2018
- University of Arizona: Organizing Committee Member, EarthWeek Research Symposium, 2017
- Arizona Hydrological Society: Organizing Committee Member, Annual Symposium, 2016
- University of Arizona: Co-chair, EarthWeek Research Symposium, 2015
Invited Presentations
- American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: Invited speaker for the session titled, Integrating Machine Learning and Physics-Based Models in Watershed Science, 2026/12
- American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: Invited panelist in town hall titled, Epic Fails and Bumpy Trails: Owning and Learning from the Messy Side of Geoscience, 2025/12
- MIT Media Lab: Integrated Risk Mapping of Hydroclimatic Disasters, 2024/12
- EPA Exploring Regenerative Agriculture Workshop: Assessing Hydrological Impacts of Conservation Practices: Challenges and Opportunities, 2024/05
- Nebraska Water Center Conference: Convergent research towards building flood resilience in Nebraska, 2023/10
- Iowa State University: Droughts and Precipitation Recycling (Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences Fall 2021 Seminar Series), 2021/10
- American Meteorological Society Committee on Hydrology: Streamflow Monitoring and Forecasting in Pilot Basins of Africa, 2020/05
- University of Waterloo: Precipitation recycling and droughts (Guest Lecture in Modern Computational Approaches to Human-Natural Systems Modelling), 2020/03
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Precipitation recycling within the context of droughts (Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Seminar Series), 2020/03
- Earth from Space Institute: Invited panelist in session, Understanding the relationship between extreme precipitation and flood risk, 2019/10
- Purdue University: Streamflow forecasting in poorly gauged basins using satellite products (Civil Engineering Hydraulics/Hydrology Seminar), 2019/02
- University of Arizona: The MMSF Platform, 2017/02
- Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur: Probabilistic real-time streamflow forecasting in sparsely-gauged African basins, 2016/07
- University of Arizona: A benchmark approach for real-time streamflow monitoring and forecasting (GPSC Grant Winner Expo poster), 2015/10
Editorial Work
- Hydrological Processes: Associate Editor, 2026-present
- Frontiers in Water: Guest Associate Editor, 2022-2025
- Hydrology: Editorial Board Member, 2020-present
Peer-Review Work
Proposals
- National Science Foundation
- Department of Energy
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- United States Geological Survey 104B
- Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute
Journals
- Science
- Nature Climate Change
- Water Resources Research
- Journal of Hydrology
- Hydrology and Earth Systems Sciences
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Environmental Research Letter
- Geoscientific Model Development
- Scientific Reports
- Hydrological Processes
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
- Journal of Hydrometeorology
- Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
- Climate Dynamics
- Journal of the American Water Resources Association
- Journal of Earth System Science
- Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment
- Journal of Hydro-environment Research
- Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences
- Soil Science Society of America Journal
- Water
- Catena
- Hydrology Research
- International Journal of River Basin Management
- International Journal of Sediment Research
Reports
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Professional Memberships
Past & Current
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
- American Geophysical Union
- American Meteorological Society
- National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
- International Association of Hydrological Sciences
- European Geosciences Union
- Arizona Hydrological Society
- Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
Served as Judge
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Outstanding GRA Award: 2025, 2026
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Research Days: 2025
- AGU Fall Meeting Outstanding Student Presentation Award: 2023, 2019, 2018
- University of Arizona Montgomery Prize at El Día del Agua y la Atmósfera: 2020
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Summer Research Symposium: 2022
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering Graduate Student Symposium: 2022, 2021, 2020
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering Outstanding Dissertation Award: 2020
- University of Arizona Travel Grant Competition, Graduate and Professional Student Council: 2015
- University of Arizona Undergraduate Poster Competition in EarthWeek Research Symposium (El Día): 2015
