The Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) has recently granted Joseph Kasprzyk, PhD, assistant professor of civil engineering at CU-Boulder, the 2014 UCOWR PhD Dissertation Award in the category of Natural Science and Engineering.
UCOWR presents this annual award to PhD advisors based upon the quality, originality and scientific merit of their dissertations, as well as its contribution and impact on water resources, according to the UCOWR website.
Kasprzyk鈥檚 dissertation, 鈥淢any Objective Water Resources Planning and Management Given Deep Uncertainties, Population Pressures, and Environmental Change,鈥� proved outstanding to the UCOWR Review Panel and Board of Directors.
In his dissertation, Kasprzyk addressed the challenges of managing environmental systems in a manner that benefits conflicting objectives, such as cost and performance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an important challenge because traditional cost-benefit calculations often fail,鈥� Kasprzyk said.
Kasprzyk鈥檚 dissertation thesis proposed dealing with such conflicting challenges by combining search algorithms with detailed simulation models and interactive visualizations.
Kasprzyk鈥檚 dissertation highlights a number of case studies in which he and fellow collaborators worked on in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland.
鈥淥ur approaches showed that the many objective analysis can reveal new strategies for water management across different basins,鈥� Kasprzyk said.
Kasprzyk鈥檚 dissertation proved to meet each of UCOWR鈥檚 challenging criteria, which ultimately landed him the 2014 PhD Dissertation Award.
鈥淚 am deeply honored to receive this award,鈥� Kasprzyk said. 鈥淚 am humbled that my research has been recognized on a national scale, and I hope to continue this type of work and explore new techniques in my research group here at the University of Colorado [Boulder].鈥�
Kasprzyk will attend the annual UCOWR conference and awards banquet to present his dissertation and receive a $750 cash reward this summer.
Courtesy the