Professional Summary
Ethiopian hydrologist, ecohydrological modeller, remote-sensing scientist, and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nevada, Reno, USA. Dr. Ayalkibet Mekonnen Seka has more than twelve years of academic and research experience in hydrological modelling, water resources management, drought assessment, climate change, remote sensing, GIS, machine learning, surface and groundwater dynamics, water-storage variation, watershed management, and soil and water conservation. His current research integrates vegetation, soil, hydrology, remote sensing, and field observations to investigate carbon cycling, soil-moisture dynamics, shrub invasion, climate impacts, and ecosystem resilience. He previously served as an Assistant Professor and Associate Researcher at Arba Minch University and conducted doctoral research at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences on water storage, drought, climate variability, and hydrological change across East African lake basins and African transboundary basins. He has authored and co-authored more than twenty scientific publications and received the UCAS Scholarship Award and UCAS Excellent International Graduate Award.
Expertise
Specialties
Projects & Contributions
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Postdoctoral Researcher – University of Nevada, Reno
Conducts postdoctoral research in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. His work applies ecohydrological modelling, remote sensing, field observations, and data analysis to understand vegetation, soil, hydrology, carbon cycling, climate change, and ecosystem resilience. -
Climate, Invasion and Carbon-Cycling Dynamics in Sagebrush Ecosystems
Uses ecohydrological models to evaluate how climate change, fire regimes, shrub invasion, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and vegetation shifts influence aboveground and belowground carbon storage and carbon fluxes in sagebrush ecosystems. -
Assistant Professor of Hydrology – Arba Minch University
Served as Assistant Professor and hydrology researcher at the Water Technology Institute and Water Resources Research Centre of Arba Minch University. Developed and calibrated hydrological models to assess surface water, groundwater, water allocation, climate impacts, land-use change, drought, flood risk, and long-term water security. -
East African Great Lakes Water Storage and Hydrological Drought Research
Investigated water balance, water distribution, surface-water and groundwater dynamics, precipitation, evapotranspiration, total water storage, and hydrological drought across East African lake basins using hydrological models, GRACE satellite observations, remote sensing, and climate data. -
African Transboundary Basin Drought-Risk Assessment
Conducted large-scale research on changing drought risk across African transboundary basins, analysing hydrological and climatic conditions, satellite observations, historical trends, and climate-related water-security risks. -
Future Hydrological Drought Projection Using Machine Learning
Developed and applied machine-learning techniques to analyse historical hydro-climatic records, identify drought patterns, project future hydrological drought under climate-change scenarios, and support adaptive water-resources management. -
Associate Researcher – Water Resources Research Centre, Arba Minch University
Conducted and coordinated research in hydrological modelling, soil and water conservation, small-scale irrigation, watershed management, decision-support systems, remote sensing, GIS, and water-resources planning. He also taught hydrology, Earth-system science, GIS, remote sensing, watershed management, and soil and water conservation. -
GRACE Satellite Hydrology and Water-Storage Analysis
Applied GRACE satellite observations and complementary remote-sensing datasets to evaluate total water-storage variation, hydrological drought, vegetation impacts, temporal water-storage correlations, and climate-related water-resource changes in East Africa. -
Water Harvesting and Downstream Water Availability Using SWAT
Evaluated the effects of water-harvesting interventions on downstream water availability using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, contributing a peer-reviewed book chapter on hydrological processes, watershed management, and sustainable water development. -
Hydro-Climatic Change in the Kulfo Catchment, Ethiopia
Investigated trends and abrupt changes in hydro-climatic variables and examined climate and human influences on streamflow in the interconnected Kulfo and Forty Springs watersheds of southern Ethiopia. -
Scientific Publications and International Research Collaboration
Has authored and co-authored more than twenty scientific publications covering drought, water storage, climate change, remote sensing, hydrology, evapotranspiration, water-energy-food systems, carbon-water coupling, land-cover change, sedimentation, crop recognition, and ecosystem dynamics.