6/22/2018 Kristina Shidlauski
Written by Kristina Shidlauski
CEE at Illinois professor Murugesu Sivapalan is a recipient of the 8th Award of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water. Sivapalan and his colleague Günter Blöschl, of the Vienna University of Technology, formed one of two teams who shared the Creativity Prize – awarded for interdisciplinary work that represents a major scientific breakthrough in any water-related field.
Sivapalan and Blöschl received the award for their work to establish a model for water management studies called Sociohydrology. Their approach focuses on understanding the relationship between water management systems and people, which in turn allows for the prediction of long-term human-flood dynamics. The award announcement cites the importance of their work in addressing many water management challenges in the face of population growth and climate change.
The Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water is a leading, global scientific award focusing on cutting-edge innovation in water research. Awarded biennially in five categories, it gives recognition to scientists, researchers and inventors around the world for pioneering work that addresses the problem of water scarcity in creative and effective ways.
Sivapalan is the Chester and Helen Siess Endowed Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering (University of Ceylon, 1975), M.Eng in Water Resources Engineering (Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, 1977), and M.A. (1983) and Ph.D (1986) in Civil Engineering, with a major in hydrology, from Princeton University. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Robert E. Horton Medal from the American Geophysical Union, the Alfred Wegener Medal from the European Geosciences Union, and the Centenary Medal by the Australian Government “for service to Australian Society in Hydrology and Environmental Engineering.”