In January 2010, I received my PhD from the Department of Environmental Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Sciences (EAWAG). For my PhD research, I have developed a national scale agro-hydrological model to study challenges on water-food security in Iran. After an international review procedure, I won ETH best PhD dissertation Medal. The novelty of my PhD work was not only on its quality science but in developing innovative ideas to bridge natural sciences into policy and application. That was highly proved by Ministry of Energy and Agriculture in the country. With several years of experience on leading and conducting multi-disciplinary research projects during 2010-2016, currently I am Associate Professor and Campus Alberta Innovates Chair in Watershed Science and Modelling. Currently, I am leading the Watershed Science and Modelling Laboratory (WSML) of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. I am leading three research projects to study water-food-energy-environment relationship and climate change in Alberta.
Overall my research interest involves application of environmental models for:
–Large-scale (continental, country, sub-country) water resources modelling and management
–Water and food security
–Adaptation to climate change in water resources management
–Virtual water trade and water scarcity
–Water quality assessment
–Water-Food-Energy-Environment nexus
Previous research:
1. Provincial (Alberta): Water-Climate Change
- Faramarzi, M., Srinivasan, R., Iravani, M., Bladon, K.D., Abbaspour, K.C., Zehnder, A.J.B, Goss, G., 2015. Setting up a hydrological model of Alberta: Data discrimination procedure prior to calibration, Environmental Modelling & Software 74: 48-65. Read it here.
- Faramarzi, M., Abbaspour, K., Adamowicz, W.L., Lu, W., Fennell, J., Zehnder, A.J.B, Goss, G., 2016. Uncertainty based assessment of dynamic freshwater scarcity in semi-arid watersheds of Alberta, Canada, Journal of Hydrology: regional Studies 9: 48-68. Read it here.
2. National (Iran): Assessment of regional water Endowments, crop water productivity and implications for intra-country virtual water trade in Iran (Water-Food-Climate Change)
- Faramarzi, M., Yang, H., Mousavi, J., Schulin, R., Binder, R.C., Abbaspour, K.C., 2010. Analysis of intra-country virtual water trade to alleviate water scarcity in Iran, HESS: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 14, 1417-1433. Read it here.
- Faramarzi, M., Abbaspour, K.C., Schulin, R., Yang, H., 2010. Modeling wheat yield and crop water productivity in Iran: implications of agricultural water management for wheat production, Agricultural Water Management 97, 1861-1875. Read it here.
- Faramarzi, M., Abbaspour, K.C., Schulin, R., Yang, H., 2009. Modelling blue and green water resources availability in Iran, Hydrological process 23, 486-501. Read it here.
- Abbaspour, K.C, Faramarzi, M., Seyed Ghasemi, S., Yang, H., 2009. Assessing impact of climate change on water resources of Iran, Water Resources Research 45, W10434. Read it here.
3. Continental (Africa): Assessment of freshwater resources in Africa under global warming scenarios (Water-Food-Climate Change)
- Faramarzi, M., Abbaspour, K.C., A. Vaghefi, S., Farzaneh, M., Zehnder, A.J.B. Srinivasan, R., Yang, H., 2013. Modeling impacts of climate change on freshwater availability in Africa, Journal of Hydrology 480, 85-101. Read it here.
4. Regional (European Russia): Water resources and yield gap (Water-Food-Global Food Security)
- Schierhorn, F., Faramarzi, M., Prishchepov, A.V., Prishchepov, Koch, F.J., Muller, D., 2014. Quantifying yield gaps in wheat production in Russia, Environmental Research Letters, 9 084017. Read it here.
- Schierhorn, F., Muller, D., Prishchepov, A.V., Faramarzi, M., Balmann, A., 2014. The potential of Russia to increase its wheat production through cropland expansion and intensification, Global Food Security 3, 133-141. Read it here.
Ongoing:
Water-Food-Energy-Environment-Climate Change
More of my research can be found on my Google Scholar.
Teaching Statements
2018-Earth Science (BSc, 36 h)
2017- Hydrologic Modelling (MSc, PhD, 48 h)
2010-2013 Water Harvesting in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions (BSc, 36 h)
2010-2013 Soil Plant Water Relationship (BSc, 36 h)
2010-2013 Fluid Mechanics (BSc, 48 h)
2010-2013 Water Resources Management (MSc, 36 h)
2010-2013 Integrated Watershed Management (MSc, 36 h)
2010-2013 Advanced Hydrology (PhD, 36 h)