Spring 2026 was marked by widespread flooding across several regions of Canada, driven by rapid snowmelt, heavy rainfall, saturated soils, and changing climate conditions. Flooding affected communities in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, and parts of Northern Ontario, resulting in evacuations, infrastructure damage, and renewed concerns about Canada's preparedness for increasingly frequent and severe flood events. The events highlighted the growing influence of climate change, urbanization, and development in flood-prone areas, reinforcing the need for improved flood forecasting, resilient infrastructure, and proactive adaptation strategies. The increased flood risk received extensive media attention including my interviews with TorontoNow and CBC radio. The focus of the discussioons was on the causes of increasing urban flood risk and the need for stronger adaptation measures in Canadian cities. Recordings of these two interviews are available in the "In the Media" section of this website.

March 4, 2026

An international course titled "Water and Civilization," developed by North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power (NCWU) is officially launched on March 4 in China. “Water and Civilization" is the largest undergraduate course ever offered. It brings together over 20 distinguished experts from world-renowned universities and academic institutions. I am very proud to be one of the experts offering four modules to the course. Adopting an integrated online and offline teaching model, the first lecture attracted 1,369 students from 15 schools across the university, with sessions broadcast simultaneously to eight classrooms across three campuses. Drawing on cutting-edge research, the course illustrates the impacts of dynamic changes in surface water, groundwater, and glacial melt on regional and global water security. The course continues through the 2026 Spring term and comprises ten core modules: Water Cycle, Water-Civilization Nexus, Water Issues, Water Needs, Hydropower, Water Footprint, Water Competition, Water Economics, Water Markets, Water Management, and the Future of Water. Innovative pedagogical approaches are integrated throughout, particularly the use of artificial intelligence to develop dynamic knowledge maps and an "AI-Empowered Collective Intelligence Project" that encourages collaborative problem-solving.

March 4, 2026

Third year in a row I have been ranked by ScholarGPS as Highly Rank Scholar - Lifetime. This year I am at #146 in Civil and Environmental Engineering, # 1 in Flood control, #11 in Water resources, #18 in Water resource management and #55 in Risk management from over 29 million scholars in all disciplines worldwide. ScholarGPS celebrates highly ranked scholars for their exceptional performance across various fields, disciplines, and specialties. My publication record, the impact of my work, and the quality of my scholarly contributions have placed me in the top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide (out of 29,161,103) and in the top 0.04% of all scholars in Civil and Environmental Engineering (out of 404,741). You can view my scholar profile and ranking here.

December 10, 2025

In June and October of 2025 I visited China and delivered: (i) keynote lecture, “Transforming Water Management: Seizing Opportunities Amid Global Change”, International Workshop on Earth Water Futures, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, China, June 3-5, 2025; (ii) keynote lecture, “Reimagining Flood Disaster Management: Digital Empowerment and Resilience-Based Decision Making”, 3rd Global River Symposium: River Governance and Management for High-Quality Development of Water Resources”, Beijing, China, October 13-14, 2025; (iii) global change science Zi Jing Forum lecture, “ From Risk-Based to Resilience-Based Water Resources Decision Making: A Conceptual and Practical Transition”, Tsinghua University, Department of Earth System Science, Beijing, China, October 14, 2025; and (iv) global vision distinguished lecture, “AI in Action Transforming Water Resources Management”, China Institute for Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China, October 15, 2025.

November 17, 2025

In September 2025, the “Updated science-wide author database of standardized citation indicators was published. This is publicly available database of top-cited scientists (out of 6 880 389 from all disciplines) that provides standardized information on citations, h-index, co-authorship adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions and a composite indicator (c-score). The ranking of scientists can be found in the following link . My name has been included in the list (about 600 spots up from last year), and my position on the list still puts me in the top 0.35% of World's scientists. I am very proud of this personal achievement.

September 24, 2025

Covalence global is an organization of young minds committed to climate actionism and vigorous action to combat the climate crisis. Covalence started as a small Bay Area beach cleanup organization and in 2022 went global. They created an international network, led global events, and initiated projects - all related to climate action and youth leadership. I was pleased they invited me to their Climate Map podcast. We talked about Systems Analysis in Flood Risk Management. Podcast video and transcript are available here

July 13, 2024

During the special event and visit to IWHR on September 13 the President of IWHR, Prof. Jing PENG, presented me with the highest honor of Eminent Scholar of IWHR for my contributions to research and collaboration with the IWHR. Click here to see the appointment letter.

Sep 28, 2023

Very proud to be included into the Reuters list of the world’s top climate scientists. To build it, Reuters created a system of identifying and ranking 1,000 climate academics according to how influential they are. Read the article in Western News.

April 20, 2021

If you have 6 minutes, join this video in which I tried to define the complex adaptive system through a story. Visit Complex Adaptive System Lab at Western University.

March, 27, 2021