Christina Bandaragoda

I'm curious about dynamic earth processes - how time and space are integrated over the landscape, and how individual processes impact the system. The emerging field of GeoHealth is as old as time - how does the human species thrive and change the earth systems we rely on? We can learn more about it using systems engineering at flexible scales that synthesize physical processes, human organizations, and computational models. Ask me about research and tools for Watershed Modeling, Computational GeoHealth, Cyberinfrastructure Research. Our future depends on these critical components of Civil Digital Infrastructure that can be operationalized for Disaster Preparedness (short time scales and hazardous impacts) and Climate Change (long time scales and cumulative impacts). Join the American Geophysical Union (AGU) GeoHealth Sectionto learn more!

My research specializations use numerical modeling and software development to communicate about extreme events and climate change using simulations on flood, drought, landslides and future water scenarios. My current projects include flood model integration for Prediction and Resilience Against Extreme Events (PREEVENTS), theLandlab open-source Python modeling toolkit, and HydroShare, an online collaborative platform for sharing water data and models. I lead NSF RAPID teams that build software infrastructure to prevent disasterafter hurricanes and the Waterhackweek CyberTrainingprogram.

I joined the University of Washington in 2014. I received my PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering, Master’s of Business Administration, and Master’s in Biological & Agricultural Engineering from Utah State University, and BS from Wheaton College. Prior to obtaining my graduate degrees, I worked in the National Park Service and studied International Development with extensive travel in Asia and the Caribbean. I provide hydrologic modeling services to multi-institutional watershed groups, and maintains professional relationships through sponsored projects with both agricultural and tribal science communities in the Pacific Northwest.

To learn more about my area of work and collaborators, visit Freshwater and UW CEE Watershed Dynamics. You can also Discover data and models I have shared on HydroShare - including HydroPoetry.