Education

• University of Minnesota, Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 1993
• Iowa State University, M.S., Civil Engineering, 1989
• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India B. Tech. Civil Engineering 1987

Biography

Professor Praveen Kumar holds a B.Tech. (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India 1987), M.S. (Iowa State University 1989), and Ph.D. (University of Minnesota 1993), all in civil engineering. Kumar joined as faculty at the University of Illinois in 1995 where he has been ever since. Prior to joining the University of Illinois, he was a research scientist (January 1993 to July 1995) at the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and Hydrologic Sciences Branch, NASA- Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. His research deals with Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation and human systems; and how this understanding can be used for innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges. He has made extensive, deep and signature contributions pertaining to information theory in geosciences, biosphere-hydrosphere interactions, multi-scale variability of hydrologic processes, hydro-geomorphology and hydroinformatics. He is the leader in the study of Critical Zone in human modified environments. He presently serves as the Executive Director of the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) which houses all five of the Illinois State Scientific Surveys. He is responsible for all policy and operational decisions for PRI with over 1000 employees and about $125M annual research expenditure. He served as the Director of NSF funded (IMLCZO) Intensively Managed Landscapes Critical Zone Observatory (2013-2021) and presently serves as the Director of NSF funded (CINet) Critical Interface Network in Intensively Managed Landscapes (2020-2026).

Academic Positions

• Executive Director, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, 2022-present
• Colonel Harry F. and Frankie M. Lovell Endowed Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 2011-present
• Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 2006-Present
• Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 2001-2006
• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 1995-2001
• Affiliate Faculty, Computational Science & Engineering Program, Univ. of Illinois, 1995-Present
• Affiliate Faculty, Department of Atmospheric Science, Univ. of Illinois, 2010-Present
• Affiliate Faculty, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Univ. of Illinois, 2015-Present
• Professor, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, Univ. of Illinois, 2015-Present

For More Information

• HydroComplexity Research Website
• https://experts.illinois.edu/en/persons/praveen-kumar

Other Professional Employment

• 2016-2020: Chair (2017-2018), and Chair-elect (2016-2017), Past Chair (2019-2020) Network Executive Committee (NEC) for the US CZO (Critical Zone Observatory) program
• 2020-present: Director, NSF CINet: Critical Interface Network for Intensively managed Landscapes
• 2013-present: Director, NSF Critical Zone Observatory for Intensively Managed Landscapes (IML-CZO)

Research Interests

• Machine learning, Data mining, AI
• Information Theory
• Ecohydrology
• Hydroclimatology
• Critical zone science
• Innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges
• Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation and human systems

Research Areas

• Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability
• Water Resources Engineering and Science

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Original Editions)

• Kumar, P., J. Alameda, P. Bajscy, M. Folk and M. Markus, Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, Authored Handbook, CRC Press, 534 pp., 2005.

Books Edited or Co-Edited (Original Editions)

• Sivapalan, M., T.Wagner, S. Uhlenbrook, X. Liang, V. Lakshmi, P. Kumar, E. Zehe, and Y. Tachikawa, eds., Predictions in Ungauged Basins: Promise and Progress, IAHS Pub. 303, UK, 2006.
• Foufoula-Georgiou, E. and P. Kumar, editors, Wavelets in Geophysics, Academic Press, 373 pp., 1994.

Chapters in Books

• Saco, P. and P. Kumar, “Hydrologic Dispersion in Fluvial Networks,” in “River Confluences, Tributaries and the Fluvial Network” Edited by Stephen P. Rice, Andr´e G. Roy and Bruce L. Rhoads, 2008
• Amanda, A.B. and P. Kumar, “Statistical Data Mining,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Modelshed Data Model,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Hydrologic Data Models”, in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Unified Modeling Language,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Kumar, P., “Multiple Scale Conditional Simulation,” Scaling Methods in Soil Physics, edited by Pachepsky, Selim and Pachepsky, 179 192, 2003.
• Kumar, P. and E. Foufoula-Georgiou, “A Multicomponent Self-Similar Characterization of Rainfall Fluctuations,” in Environmental Studies, edited by Mary Wheeler, Springer-Verlag, New York, 239-254, 1996.
• Kumar, P. and E. Foufoula-Georgiou, “Wavelet Analysis in Geophysics: An Introduction,” in Wavelets in Geophysics, edited by E. Foufoula-Georgiou and P. Kumar, 1-43, 1994.

Selected Articles in Journals

• Jinyu Wang, Julien Bouchez, Antoine Dolant, Paul Floury, Andrew J. Stumpf, Erin Bauer, Laura Keefer, Jérôme Gaillardet, Praveen Kumar, Jennifer L. Druhan, Sampling frequency, load estimation and the disproportionate effect of storms on solute mass flux in rivers, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 906, 2024.
• Praveen Kumar, Alison Anders, Erin Bauer, Neal E. Blair, Molly Cain, Ashlee Dere, Jennifer Druhan, Timothy Filley, Christos Giannopoulos, Allison E. Goodwell, David Grimley, Diana Karwan, Laura L. Keefer, Jieun Kim, Luigi Marini, Marian Muste, A. N. Thanos Papanicolaou, Bruce L. Rhoads, Leila Constanza Hernandez Rodriguez, Susana Roque-Malo, Sean Schaeffer, Andrew Stumpf, Adam Ward, Lisa Welp, Christopher G. Wilson, Qina Yan, Shengnan Zhou, Emergent Role of Critical Interfaces in the Dynamics of Intensively Managed Landscapes, Earth Science Reviews, Vol. 244, 2023.
• Afeefa Rahman, Praveen Kumar, & Francina Dominguez, Increasing freshwater supply to sustainably address global water security at scale. Nature Sci Rep 12, 20262 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24314-2
• Meredith Richardson, Praveen Kumar, Oliver Sonnentag, and Philip Marsh, Thermodynamic basis for the demarcation of Arctic and alpine treelines, Nature Sci Rep 12, 12565 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16462-2
• Dutta, D., A. Goodwell, P. Kumar, R. Darmody, J. E. Garvey, R.Jacobson, D. P. Beretta, and J. Greenberg, "On the Feasibility of Characterizing Soil Properties from AVIRIS Spectrometer Data", to appear in IEEE Trans. In Geosci. & Remote Sensing, 53(9), 5133-5147, 2015, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2015.2417547
• Bagley, J., D. M. Rosenthal, U. M. Ruiz-Vera, M. Siebers, P. Kumar, D. R. Ort, and C. J. Bernacchi, "The influence of photosynthetic acclimation to rising CO2 and warmer temperatures on leaf and canopy photosynthesis models", Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29, 194-206, DOI: 10.1002/2014GB004848, 2014.
• Woo, D. K., J. Quijano, P. Kumar, S. Chaoka, and C. J. Bernacchi, "Threshold Dynamics in Soil Carbon Storage for Bioenergy Crops", Env. Sci. and Tech., 2014, 48(20), pp. 12090-12098, doi:10.1021/es5023762. 2014.
• Shafiee-Jood, M., X. Cai, L. Chen, X. Liang, and P. Kumar, "Assessing the value of seasonal climate forecast information through an end-to-end forecasting framework: Application to U.S. 2012 drought", Water Resources Research, DOI: 10.1002/2014WR015822, 2014.
•  Pathak, A., S. Ghosh, and P. Kumar, "Precipitation Recycling in the Indian Subcontinent During Summer Monsoon", J. of Hydrometeorology, 15(5), 2050-2066, 2014. DOI:10.1175/JHM-D-13-0172.1.
•  Phong, V., V. Le and P. Kumar, "Power Law Scaling Characteristics of Topographic Depressions and Their Hydrologic Connectivity", Geophysical Res. Letters, Doi: 10.1002/2013GL059114, March 2014, DOI:10.1022/2013GLO59114.
• Goodwell, A., Z. Zhu, D. Dutta, J. Greenberg, P. Kumar, M. Garcia, B. Rhoads, G. Parker, R. Holmes, D. Beretta, "Assessment of Floodplain Vulnerability during Extreme Mississippi River Flood 2011", Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (5), pp 2619–2625, DOI: 10.1021/es404760t.
• Ruddell, B.R., I. Zaslavsky, D. Valentine, B. Beran, M. Piasecki, Q. Fu, P. Kumar, "Sustainable Long Term Scientific Data Publication: Lessons Learned from a Prototype Observatory Information System for the Illinois River Basin", to appear in Env. Modeling and Software, 2014.

Journal Editorships

• Field Editor-in-Chief (Founding), Frontiers in Water , Leading a team of growing number of Section Editor-in-Chiefs  (11) and Associate Editors (280) for a new international journal 2018–present 
• Editor-in-Chief Water Resources Research, American Geophysical Union 2009-2013
• Editor, Geophysical Research Letters, American Geophysical Union 2006-2009
• Associate Editor, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers 2003-2004

Professional Societies

• American Meteorological Society(AMS) Member, 1996-present
• American Geophysical Union(AGU) Member, 1990-present
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Member, 1996-present;

Other Outside Service

• Journal Referee: Water Resources Research; Journal of Applied Meteorology; Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; Biometrika; Journal of Geophysical Research; Journal of Stochastic Hydrology and Hydraulics; ASCE Journal of Hydrologic Engineering; Journal of Hydrometeorology; Journal of Climate; Advances in Water Resources; Hydrologic Processes
• Grant Proposal Panel; National Science Foundation; National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Grant Proposal Reviewer National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Science Foundation
• Board member, Champaign Urbana Montessori Elementary School, 2000 2002, Vice President, 2001 2002.

Honors

• Chief Guest, Convocation Function of the Department of Civil Engineering Convocation Function, IIT Bombay, Bombay, India (2020)
• Harleman Leture, PennState University (2017)
• Wolman Lecture, CUAHSI Fifth Biennial Colloqium, Sheperdstown, WV (2016)
• Engineering Council Award, For Excellence in Advising (2013)
• Associate, Center for Advanced Studies, University of Illinois (2011-2012)
• Xerox Award for Faculty Research (2005)
• Faculty Fellow, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (2001-2002, 2006-2007)
• Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman (Non-Resident Honor) Award given by the NRI (Non Resident Indian) Welfare Society of India (2018)
• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India (2018)
• Fellow, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) (2024)
• Fellow, AMS (American Meteorological Society) (2018)
• Fellow, AGU (American Geophysical Union) (2015)