Asumi Saito

2024 – 2025 Global Change Research Fellow

Statement of purpose:

I completed BS in Agricultural Economics in Japan, where I have studied the social and economic aspects of climate change impacts on agriculture in Southeast Asia. With my growing interest in water resource issues across different geospatial settings, I completed MS in Agricultural Economics at the University of Arizona, where I worked for the Climate Assessment for the Southwest as a RA to predict irrigation water usage for five main crops in the Southwest states.

With a growing interest in geospatial issues and machine learning, I started working as a data scientist in tech companies. During my career, I engaged in an AI startup that digitalized the electricity operation of water treatment facilities. This experience broadened my interest in using advanced geospatial analytics to capture and forecast extreme water flow in rivers and reservoirs for climate adaptation planning, which encouraged me to pursue the PhD in Geospatial Analytics.

Description of research:

I am interested in contributing to climate informatics by synthesizing machine learning and hydrologic models to robust, accurate, and explainable predictions to forecast extreme natural events such as coastal flooding, where both riverine and storm surge exacerbate the devastation. One of the damages brought by flooding is the contamination of drinking water wells with livestock waste and human sewage, which leads to severe hygiene issues in the disaster area. Developing tools to address this situation will help both rural and urban planners as the Southeast region has been rapidly growing.

Contact Information:

Email: asaito2@ncsu.edu

Faculty Advisor:

Dr. Sankarasubramanian Arumugam (Department of Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering)