Faculty Spotlight: Mamunur Rashid

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Please describe the type of research that you do and background as far as degree path.

Dr. Rashid is an engineer/hydrologist/climate impact researcher The research conducted under his leadership at the Coastal Hazards and Hydro-meteorological Extremes (CoHEX)- Lab includes quantifying coastal hazards and changes in hydro-meteorological extremes (e.g., extreme sea levels, floods, droughts, high winds, and heat waves), assessing how large-scale climate variability modulates these changes, and modeling their impacts on infrastructure and socio-environmental systems under different climate change scenarios leading to sustainable design and improved operation of critical infrastructure. In particular, Dr. Rashid’s research covers the area of hydrology (coastal and inland), climatology, water resources, and climate change modeling and adaptation and focuses on the coastal regions where both oceanographic and inland hydrologic forces are crucial.    
 
Dr. Rashid often works with extensive hydrologic and climate data to reveal valuable information for decision-making employing state-of-the-art statistical, machine learning, and deep learning techniques. He often works at the interface of science and engineering because translating scientific understanding and knowledge into practical outcomes is his passion. His long-term goal is to contribute to building climate-resilient smart communities by developing integrated modeling frameworks.  
 
Dr. Rashid holds a Ph.D. in Water Engineering (hydro-climatology) from the University of South Australia and a Master’s in Environmental Engineering from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He completed his Bachelor’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering from ShahJalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh. Before joining the University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Rashid served at multiple universities (the University of Central Florida, the University of New South Wales, and the University of Tsukuba) and NGOs (The Nature Conservancy and United Nations Development Program) in different capacities.  

List the most recent (past, present or near future) projects that you are engaging in and provide info about that project’s funding.

Recently completed projects (selected):

• When forces collide: Developing a scalable framework for compound flood risk assessment. [Funding Agency: US Coastal Research Program, USCRP]
• Incorporation of Climate and Hydrologic Non-stationarity into FDOT planning and Design Guidelines and Processes. [Funding Agency: Florida Department of Transportation, FDOT]
• An Indicator for U.S. Coastal Extreme Sea Level. [Funding Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA]

Current Projects 

1. Large-scale spatiotemporal modeling of storm surges and projection of future changes. [Funding Agency: The University of Southern Mississippi, USM]
2. Physics-backed data-driven modeling for compound flood risk assessment. [Funding Agency: The University of Southern Mississippi, USM]
3. Reanalysis of extreme storm surges along the contiguous U.S. coastlines. [Funding Agency: The University of Southern Mississippi, USM]  

Potential future projects (proposals are under review)

1. Spatiotemporal modeling of Storm Surge Extremes (S3E). [Funding Agency: Amazon Research Award] 
2. Investigation of daily precipitation variability in the frequency domain. [Funding Agency: NOAA Climate Observation and Monitoring (COM)]
3. Understanding variability of freshwater inflows and modeling their impacts on nutrient loads and water quality for the Mississippi coast. [Funding Agency: MBRACE]
4. Developing Community Engaged Interventions to Stress-Related Adverse Health Impacts at the Nexus of Vulnerable Communities, Environmental Hazard Threats, and Extreme Weather and Climate Events. [Funding Agency: NASEM Gulf Research Program]

List the students that you are currently working with as well as their projects they are involved in.

 Current graduate student

• Md Abu Zafor: Mr. Zafor is a graduate research assistant (Ph.D.), who joined the CoHEX Lab in the Spring of 2023. He is researching to develop spatiotemporal models of storm surges employing statistical, machine learning, and deep learning techniques and project their future changes by downscaling from the CMIP6 climate models.

Upcoming graduate student

• Raihan Uddin Ahmed: Mr. Uddin will join the CoHEX Lab for his M.S. in the Fall of 2023. He will be researching to develop a model for quantifying the compound flooding risks for coastal communities. He will employ data-driven modeling techniques while integrating physics-based parameterization to improve model efficiency and reduce computation burden.