Urban Ecology, Water Quality and Climate Change

Prof. A.K. Sarma, the former Head of the Civil Engineering Department and former Dean of Student Affairs of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, is presently holding the prestigious B.P. Chalida Chair Professor position given by the Ministry of Water Resources of the government of India. Dr. Sarma has also served as Visiting Professor in the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, in 2015. The NPTEL video course on hydraulic Engineering developed by Prof. Sarma is receiving wide appreciation from different parts of the globe and has entered into the top 5 most visited courses. He published more than 100 technical papers in national and international journals, books and conference proceedings. Apart from working on the management of Indian Rivers, Dr Sarma has also provided his technical expertise on the management of Mekong River. He is dedicated to work on the development of BRAHMA (Braided River Aid: Hydro Morphological

Analyzer) model for management of braided rivers like the Brahmaputra. He serves as reviewer of several reputed international journals and has served as Member and Adviser of various prestigious committees. In addition to his academic achievements, Dr Sarma also actively contributes to society through music and drama. As an approved lyricist of All India Radio, he has composed several songs, drama and musical features for All India Radio and Television to bring scientific awareness to the masses.

Professor V.P. Singh is a Distinguished Professor and Caroline and William N. Lehrer Distinguished Chair in Water Engineering at Texas A&M University. He received his B.S., M.S., Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees in engineering. He is a registered professional engineer, a registered professional hydrologist, and an Honorary diplomate in water resources engineering of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers. Professor Singh has extensively published the results of an extraordinary range of his scientific pursuits. He has published hundreds of journal and tens of books and book chapters in hydrology, ground water, hydraulics, irrigation engineering, environmental engineering, and water resources. For his scientific contributions to the development and management of water resources and promoting the cause of their conservation and sustainable use, he has received more than 75 national and international awards and numerous honors, including three honorary doctorates. He is a Distinguished Member of ASCE, and a fellow EWRI, AWRA, IWRS, ISAE, IASWC and IE and holds membership in 10 international science/engineering academies. He has served as President and Senior Vice President of the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH).

Prof. Dr. Rajib Bhattacharjya is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. His current research interests include groundwater management and pollution control, management of saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers, classical and metaheuristic optimization methods and artificial neural networks. He has more than 15 years of experience in teaching and research and has published more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications in various reputed international journals and conference proceedings. As a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, he is involved in teaching courses in subsurface hydrology, surface water hydrology, optimization methods, and water resources planning and management.

Dr. Suresh A. Kartha is presently Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Guwahati, India. He joined IIT Guwahati in the year 2007 as a Senior Lecturer in the specialization of Water Resources Engineering and Management in the Department of Civil Engineering. As a faculty member, Dr. Kartha has taught courses on numerical methods, hydrology, subsurface hydrology, fluid mechanics, etc., and his research focus is in the area of flow and transport processes in the porous media. His internet web profile can be assessed through the link http://www.iitg.ac.in/kartha/homepage/index.html.