Academic focus: Geospatial science for sustainable water resource management
Research summary: I study plant water use from field to global scales using remote sensing techniques to guide irrigation scheduling and monitor plant stress condition. My lab aims to enhance field-scale satellite retrieved evapotranspiration data production and to better understand the impacts of agricultural practices and management on water resource sustainability.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I enjoy baking, walking in nature and spending time with my family.
What are your current outreach/extension projects?
I am currently leading three projects: The first one is funded by NASA Acres to study irrigation impacts on water resource sustainability over the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain; the second one is funded by NASA ECOSTRESS to improve field-scale evapotranspiration calculation with multi-satellite data fusion; the third one is funded by USGS to improve the latency of evapotranspiration product in OpenET platform. In addition, I am a co-investigator on multiple projects related to vineyard irrigation scheduling, forest evaporation and transpiration partitioning, and sustainable water use in arid regions.
What are three adjectives people might use to describe you?
Dependable, optimistic, collaborative
What (specifically) brought you to Cornell CALS?
It was the reputation of Cornell CALS that brought me here. I was particularly drawn to the transdisciplinary moonshot initiative and the collaborative environment.
What do you think is important for people to understand about your field?
Evapotranspiration is the invisible water that many people don’t realize plays a crucial role in our environment. It tightly links carbon and water cycle and is connected to agriculture practices and water resource management. We are seeing more frequent and severe droughts in areas that historically haven’t experienced them. Since agriculture is a large water consumer, it is important to start thinking more about plant water use.
Why did you feel inspired to pursue a career in this field?
Water is essential to life, and my passion lies in ensuring its sustainable use.
What’s the most surprising/interesting thing you’ve discovered about Cornell and/or Ithaca so far?
I am amazed by the trails and beautiful waterfalls.
If you had unlimited grant funding, what major problem in your field would you want to solve?
If I had unlimited grant funding, I would love to solve the global water sustainability issue by optimizing every drop of water.
If you could relate your work to one of the four transdisciplinary moonshots, which one would you most closely align with and why? They are: Redesigning 21st Century Agri-Food Systems; Accelerating Holistic Climate Solutions; Leading in Synthetic Biology; and Pioneering Life Science Breakthroughs.
I consider myself most closely aligned with Redesigning 21st Century Agri-Food Systems. Under the changing climate, with more extreme weather events, there are lots of challenges. Water issue is one of them. My research focuses on redesigning agri-food systems from a water use perspective.
